37 Mesmerizing Works of Finalists and Winners of the Ocean Art 2024 Photo Contest (38 photos)

The Ocean Art underwater photography competition has gathered the best works from all over the world for the 13th time! Participants sent in thousands of images from more than 90 countries. Their works reflect the diversity of the underwater world: from amazing macro shots of marine life to breathtaking landscapes and cenotaphs captured with a wide-angle lens. Thanks to generous sponsors, the winners together received more than $60,000. Check out the images and learn interesting facts.





Portrait Winner: Exceptional Delivery by Stefano Cerbai



"My wife and I visited many amazing places in Australia during our honeymoon. One of them was South Australia, where I was lucky enough to go diving in search of a ragworm, an animal I had dreamed of seeing for many years. Not only did I manage to find this seahorse, but I also captured it at the moment when it was carrying eggs on its back, next to its tail. It was an incredibly touching sight."

2nd Place Portrait: Blue Face by Eduardo Acevedo

3rd Place Portrait: Blue Crab in a Cave by Martin Broen



Winner Wide Angle: Light by Hwanhee Kim



“Light is nature’s greatest gift. A week before I took this photo, there was heavy rainfall in Cancun. Rainfall and detergent from a nearby car wash washed into the cenotes, creating stunning colors due to the difference in concentration. Light was the link between land and the underwater world, and between nature and man. I felt lucky to have witnessed this beauty and was grateful for the opportunity to capture it.”

2nd Place Wide Angle: Blue Sunrise by Julian Gunter



3rd Place Wide Angle: Where's Waldo? by Todd Akeem



Cold Water Winner: Curious Cormorant by James Emery



"While diving off the coast of Monterey, I noticed a cormorant. It came up to us and started pecking at my wife's head, but she remained completely unfazed. I took a few pictures, and at that point the cormorant's attention switched to my camera. It stayed with us for about 20 minutes, periodically surfacing and returning."

2nd Place Cold Water: "Dive" by Kat Zhou



3rd Place Cold Water: "Baobab" by Jeongin Kim



Winner Macro: "Juvenile Batfish" by Adam Martin



"This juvenile batfish was found 25 meters deep off the coast of Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. The light highlights the texture and structure of its body, highlighting its graceful lines and vibrant colors."

2nd place Macro: "Safe Haven", Imogen Manins



3rd place Macro: "Spongicolidae", Claudio Zori



4th place Macro: "Four Eyes", Chongin Kim



"Anemonefish are always on the move. They swim fast and only open their mouths for a moment, making it difficult to photograph the parasite on their tongue. I took several successive shots to capture this creature. I consider myself lucky."

Marine Behavior Winner: "Born from the Mouth" by Yoichi Sato



"In the depths of a summer night, when most living things were asleep, a male Ostorhinchus properuptus, having completed a week-long incubation period, gathered all his strength and, with a trembling movement, released a swarm of eggs from his mouth. To avoid putting the fish under unnecessary stress, I observed this process under dim red light."

2nd place in the category "Marine Behavior": "Fighting", Reiko Takahashi



3rd Place Marine Behaviour: 'New Generation Release' by Kirsty Andrews



Compact Macro Winner: 'Oxycirrhites typus' by Naomi Springett



'We went on a fantastic diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef on our honeymoon. It was truly an unforgettable trip, and this photo was taken during one of the most beautiful dives. This fish, known as Oxycirrhites typus, was sitting majestically on a coral. It did not seem to mind my presence at all, and remained motionless long enough for me to take some wonderful photos."

2nd Place Compact Macro: Seahorse at Sunset by Enrico Somogyi



3rd Place Compact Macro: Neighbors by Jason Apostol



Winner Black and White: Dancing White Tips by Eduardo Labat



"This was our last dive of the day as the sunlight began to fade.

At Roca Partida, whitetip sharks gather in small groups. On this day, we spotted a large school of sharks near a rock. Dozens of them were gathered in a tight group at a depth of about 7.5 meters. They were not hunting or showing any aggressive behavior. This is where I took this photo. From above, the sharks seemed to be swimming in sync, making circular movements. It was a beautiful sight."

2nd Place Black and White: Face to Face by Sylvie Eyer



3rd Place Black and White: Wreck in Saskatchewan by Borat Furlan



Underwater Digital Art Winner: Dream by Ankou Kim



“The sea in Seogwipo, where I took this photo, is a special place for me, filled with warmth and memories. However, it is not really suitable for underwater photography. The water here is often murky and the currents are strong. I wondered how to take photos that would convey the beauty of the sea creatures in Seogwipo. I came up with the idea of ​​using light as a background to highlight the beauty of these creatures. I spent countless hours to get a close-up image of the main subject, the blue goby.”

2nd Place Underwater Digital Art: Fire Babies by Jenny Stock



3rd Place Underwater Digital Art: Aliens: Cave People by Lorenzo Terraneo



Conservation Winner: Drowning in Plastic by Kimber Greenwood



This image was taken as part of an information project by the Florida Springs Council. There is a bottling plant right next to the spring. Every minute, more than 300 bottles of water are produced there. Not only do these bottles end up in landfills and pollute the environment, but they also cause water loss from the aquifer. This, in turn, lowers the water level and reduces its flow, which negatively affects the health of springs and rivers.

2nd Place Conservation: "Saving the Turtles" by Tom Wierus



3rd Place Conservation: "Slow Death" by Dawn MacDonald



Black Water Winner: "Hunt" by Kyunshin Kim



"I took this picture while diving in Anilao last November. At first I noticed two squid huddled together and thought they were mating. However, upon closer inspection I realized that they were not; one squid was eating another, smaller one."

2nd Place Blackwater: "Blanket" by Kat Zhou



3rd Place Blackwater: "Gibbericht" by Yoichi Sato



Winner Nakedgill: "Hooded Clam" by Borut Furlan



"October 2024 was my first time visiting Vancouver Island and my first time in Canada. I had little knowledge, so I decided to use a wide-angle zoom lens on most of the dives to capture the diversity of the area. I had never seen so many nudibranchs in one place before. There were thousands of them, covering everything from the seabed to the kelp forest, and some were even swimming."

2nd Place Nakedgill: "Hungry for Love" by Jenny Stock



3rd Place Nakedgill: "Hydatina" by David Plevret



Underwater Fashion Winner: "Long Live the Queen!" Lucia Drlikova



"The Evil Queen from the Snow White fairy tale and her demons. This photo is part of my project Once Upon a Dream in Waterland, which I have been working on for seven years. I create all the costumes, decorations and props with my own hands."

2nd place in the category "Underwater Fashion": "Lily in the Garden", Anna Aita



3rd place in the category "Underwater Fashion": "Fallen from the Sky", Claudia Weber-Gebert