An Abstract Portrait of a Potbelly Seahorse. Winner, Macro. "I was drawn to this particular seahorse because it had especially distinguished markings around the eye, and the jaw-dropping color palette made a striking contrast with the surrounding coral." Image taken off Bare Island in Sydney, Australia. #

Wild and Free. Runner-up, Wide Angle. "A pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins swimming wild and free in the Bahamas. Interacting with these highly intelligent cetaceans in their natural environment is an unforgettable experience, and over the last three years I travelled to Bimini where a resident population is known for their playfulness with free divers. They are incredibly fast and acrobatic, making most encounters high-energy and unpredictable, which can be challenging to photograph." #

Star Attraction. Category Winner, British Waters Macro, and British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024. A purple sea urchin is seen among a cluster of brittle stars at a dive site near Oban, Scotland. #

Twilight Smile. 3rd Place, Wide Angle. "In 2011, the Bahamas declared its waters a 'shark sanctuary.' Off the island of Grand Bahama, I witnessed several unforgettable encounters. At dusk, several dozen lemon sharks rose from the depths and surrounded the dive boat. Perched on the swim-step with my body half-submerged, I set out to take split shots." #

Set Sail. 3rd Place, Wrecks. "This wreck is called Virgo and is located in Recife in Brazil. It was sunk in 2017 to be a dive site and is 25 meters from another wreck called the Taurus. On this day, I started diving the Taurus, and when I arrived at the Virgo, I saw this huge school of fish, which instantly reminded me of the shape of a boat sail." #

Attack from Above. Runner-up, Portrait. "Even more surprising than encountering a bird underwater is having the bird try to attack your camera while hunting for small fish in the kelp forest! Last summer at a popular Monterey dive site, the cormorants seemed to be more active and curious than usual ... I had numerous cormorants approach me, peck at my head and tank, follow me around, and try to eat my camera. This one paused for a moment, perhaps after seeing its reflection in my dome port, allowing me to capture a head-on portrait." #

Octopus Attack. Runner-up, Compact. "This shot was taken in Lembeh. The coconut octopus was sitting in a small hollow in the sand. In the background there is a shell where another coconut octopus was living. After I took some pictures, the octopus started to touch my lens. So, I was able to get this shoot with the important focus on the eye." #

Lonesome Drifter. Runner-up, Macro. Photographed in Anilao Janao Bay, Philippines. "While I was exploring the area, I came across a pyrosome (an unusual tubular planktonic animal) that was 10cm (4 inches) long. As I examined it carefully, I discovered that an animal was hiding inside it." #

Saving Goliath. Category Winner, Marine Conservation, and "Save Our Seas Foundation" Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2024. "The golden beaches of Costa da Caparica, just across the river from Lisbon, were packed with sun-seekers on this sunny day. And then something unusual caught their attention on the horizon. A massive sperm whale seemed to be struggling to swim as it slowly moved towards the coast. Soon its giant wounded body was passing by surfers and swimmers and reaching the shallow waters of the beach. But suddenly dozens of sun-seekers started running towards the whale. Together they pushed and chanted, trying to help the giant back into the sea, as it slowly slapped its tail back and forth and breathed heavily. Several hours later the whale took its last breath, its body crushed by gravity as it lay on the sand." #

Encircled. Runner-up, Up & Coming. "Summer 2023 brought the usual small groups of baby barracudas to each coral pinnacle on the house reef at Marsa Shagra, in Egypt, but for the first time in the 11 years I have lived there, they all gradually came together as one giant bait ball in the entrance of the bay, giving divers no choice but to pass through them at the start and end of their dive." #

Catshark in Bootlace. Winner, British Waters Compact. "The bootlace weed can sometimes completely blanket the pebbles overlooking the reef at Chesil Cove in the summer. Scores of catshark, cuttles, young conger, and other nighttime predators patrol this seasonal ‘jungle’ slope, happy to snack on whatever comes their way. This sleepy catshark was, as you can see, unsure what to make of me, poking its head tentatively through the weed to establish if I was either threat or food." #

Whale Bones. Category Winner, Wide Angle, and Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024. "In eastern Greenland the local hunters bring their catch and share it among each other. From a stable population of over 100,000 minke whales in the North Atlantic the hunters of Tasiilaq typically take less than a dozen. The whale is pulled up on the beach during high tide and many families gather to cut the skin, blubber, and the meat off at low tide. Almost all the whale is consumed, however the skeleton is pulled back into the sea by the next high tide and the remains can be found in shallow waters where various marine invertebrates and fish pick the bones clean." #

Divebomb. Winner, British Waters Wide Angle. "I took this photo during a trip to dive with Northern Gannets in Shetland. The experience of being amid dive-bombing gannets is both chaotic and adrenaline-fueled, and it was hard to choose where to aim my camera! I tried to photograph any bird that zoomed by, and I was pleasantly surprised when I later saw how this shot was able to depict the dynamic motion of the experience." #