Mobula Munkiana. Honorable Mention, Wide Angle. Martin: "Mobula Munkiana aggregate in large schools off the coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico, each spring, during a period thought to be mating and pupping season. While motoring offshore for a week, our search was guided by breaching rays on the horizon. After many attempts to locate the rays and quietly enter the water, I was able to capture a clean image of this large school." #

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. 1st Place, Compact Macro. Cho: "I considered filming for a short time without strengthening the light, because the sea squirt, which does not like the heat, narrowed the entrance right away when I started filming. Also, shrimp are sensitive to sea squirts' movements, so I tried to film calmly without rushing. From the moment I found the shrimp in the sea squirt until just before the sea-squirt entrance was closed, this cute little shrimp kept an eye on me without much movement." #

South Seas Spawning. 4th Place Black & White. Capozzola: "In November 2021, I visited the remote atoll of Fakarava in French Polynesia, which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Here, the marine life thrives due to strong legal protections. I was very fortunate to be there just after the full moon, when the 'Bagnard,' or convict tangs, spawned nearby in shallow water just before sunset. This aggregation of so many fish in a small place attracted several reef sharks to the heightened activity, including this grey reef shark." #

Wunderpus. 2nd Place, Compact Macro. Casia: "During a blackwater dive, shot at 25 meters deep over about 1,000 meters of water, we waited for the vertical migration of deep-water creatures." Photographed in Janao Bay near Anilao, Philippines. #

Zeepaddestoel. Honorable Mention, Marine Life Behavior. Rooman: "This photo of a barrel jellyfish was taken in the fall of 2022 on a sunny day in Grevelingen Lake in Scharendijke, Netherlands. The crab that hitchhikes is actually eating the jellyfish as it tries to flee with its last strength." #

Rose Among the Thorns. 4th Place, Compact Macro. Photographed in Romblon, Philippines. Lynn: "What amazes me is the wonderful type of sea urchins in Romblon. Most of the sea urchins in Romblon have some sort of symbiotic relationship. The shrimp was one of them. Usually, you will see common shrimp on a sea urchin that has the same color so it can camouflage itself. But this particular shrimp stood out—bright orange and right in the middle of the thorns." #

The Eye. Honorable Mention, Macro. Zhou: "This photo depicts a close-up look at the eye of a nurse shark and was taken on a night dive off the coast of Bimini in the Bahamas." #

Dolphin Formation. 2nd Place, Compact Wide Angle. Beck: "This curious group of dolphins was playing with us as we were snorkeling on Sataya Reef in Egypt. Dolphins are commonly found here, but due to their fast movements, it was quite difficult to take a good picture." #

Coral Spawning. 3rd Place, Marine Life Behavior. A branching coral spawns pinkish bundles of eggs and sperm in the Coral Beach Nature Reserve near Eilat, Israel. #

The Hunt. 2nd Place, Wide Angle. Nicholson: "A grey reef shark parts the tide of bait fish. In a very rare occurrence, a large shiver of sharks had herded this school of bait fish into the shallow passageways of the Ningaloo Reef in Australia. With the fish trapped here, nearly a hundred sharks spent hours in a feeding frenzy." #

Octopus Mother. Best in Show, and 1st Place, Macro. Zhou: "This photo shows a Caribbean reef octopus guarding her eggs, found off the coast of West Palm Beach, Florida. Like all other species of octopus, this mother does not eat while she tends to her eggs, and she will die after they hatch. It was a bittersweet feeling to watch her protect her eggs, knowing that this sad end was coming!" #

Parasite Waiting for the Next Victim. Honorable Mention, Portrait. Terraneo: "Some years earlier, in winter, I saw Nerocila bivittata under a Sabella spallanzanii tube. I suppose the parasite was looking for a high point where it could reach a new victim. Given the very small size, I really struggled to see it on a small iron pipe protruding from the sand." Photographed at Capo Noli, Italy. #

Cruising the Sand Patch. 2nd Place, Black & White. Pyke: "On the clearest day on the Ningaloo I have experienced so far, our spotter pilot called in a whale shark on a shallow section of reef. To see them so shallow is not an everyday occurrence, and with the visibility, it may have been the best time to see one in such an area." #

The Devil in Me. Honorable Mention, Compact Macro. Michelutti: "I was in the wonderful island of Siladen, north Sulawesi (Indonesia), at the dive site 'Pangalisan,' when I came across this gorgeous Nembrotha kubaryana. I love this species, and I'm addicted to color, so its greens and oranges are hypnotic for me." #

The White Whale. 4th Place, Wide Angle. Gunther: "This young southern right whale calf was estimated to be about two or three months old at the time, and it is not an albino, just a white variant. Approximately one out of every 100 calves are born white, and their pigmentation will eventually fade to black as they grow. This young calf was extremely interested in me and would often come and make close passes." #

Drifter. Honorable Mention, Nudibranchs. Greis: "Almost every year, the coastal shores of Sydney, Australia, receive an influx of blue drifters (also referred to as the 'Blue Fleet'), which consist of bluebottles, blue buttons, and the infamous Blue Dragon (more commonly referred to as the Glaucus). This magnificent critter is an organism that relies on the wind and ocean currents to carry it around, which sometimes results in heavy storms casting it ashore. The Glaucus is considered to be a type of pelagic nudibranch that devours bluebottles and stores their stinging agents as defense against predators." #