9 Of The Best ‘Ocean Views’ From The Nature’s Best Photography 2025 Awards

Dive beneath the floor with 2025’s greatest ocean images, and get a glimpse into the hidden lives of sharks, whales and sea dragons.

© Nicolas & Léna REMY

Since 1995, the annual Nature’s Best Photography Awards attempt to deliver collectively a number of the most interesting nature photographers on the earth. This 12 months has been no completely different; we’ve been fortunate sufficient to see a number of the most outstanding and elusive moments within the pure world, throughout completely different continents and ecosystems.

For us land-dwellers, the ocean stays one of many planet’s final nice mysteries. It covers greater than 70% of Earth’s floor, but it stays largely unexplored. It’s dwelling to species and ecosystems that many people won’t ever see in particular person. The underwater class of this 12 months’s competitors highlights exactly that: silent hunters, vibrant reefs and intimate encounters between creatures that reside far past our attain.

Here are 9 of one of the best.

1. Sand Tiger Sharks (Fish Rock Island, New South Wales) — Category Winner

This 12 months’s Ocean Views class winner, captured by photographer Nicolas Remy, is nothing in need of mesmerizing. We see a college of sand tiger sharks, gliding by means of clouds of fish off Fish Rock Island, New South Wales.

The picture captures the unusual grace and coexistence of a species usually misunderstood. “Fish Rock Island was named one of the world’s ‘Hope Spots’ to help protect marine habitat,” explains Remy. “Photography opens a window into this hidden world, allowing us to share its beauty and fragility.”

The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus), identified in Australia because the gray nurse shark, cuts an intimidating determine with its jagged enamel and sturdy construct. Yet, regardless of its fearsome look, it’s a comparatively slow-moving and non-aggressive species. Sand tigers are masters of buoyancy management, gulping air into their stomachs to hover immobile within the water column.

Tragically, as research from Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems explains, overfishing and habitat degradation have earned this species a Critically Endangered standing on the IUCN Red List. Remy’s shot is a final name to guard the final refuges of those light giants.

2. Humpback Whale Calf (Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga)

In the shallows of Tonga’s Vava’u archipelago, a humpback whale calf plunges vertically within the water, post-dive, with its nostril pointing down towards the deep. The picture captures a peaceful second within the lifetime of a younger leviathan, who will sooner or later should migrate 1000’s of kilometers throughout the Pacific.

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are identified for his or her sensible acrobatics and songs. Males use their songs, specifically, to draw mates and talk throughout huge distances. Calves usually keep near their moms for as much as a 12 months; they feed on their moms’ nutrient-rich milk, whereas studying the routes that may ultimately outline their lives as adults.

3. Sally Lightfoot Crab (Galápagos Islands, Ecuador)

Vibrant, alert and seemingly unbothered by the digital camera, a Sally Lightfoot crab (Grapsus grapsus) stares straight down the lens. With scarlet legs, a cornflower-blue underbelly and glinting purple eyes, it’s laborious to consider this specimen isn’t painted. These crabs are so vividly coloured that they border on the surreal.

Native to the rocky shores of the Galápagos and different Pacific coasts, these crabs play an important ecological function as scavengers, feeding on algae and detritus (dry hen excrement) that may in any other case accumulate alongside the shorelines. Researchers have lengthy marveled at their agility, noting that their grip and pace assist them eat, in addition to evade predators — together with curious photographers.

4. Titan Triggerfish (Mayotte Island, France)

Few fish are as daring because the titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens). This curious specimen was captured face-to-face with the photographer within the waters off Mayotte Island. Its highly effective jaw, sharp enamel and decided gaze make for an awesome portrait of underwater confidence.

The titan is, as its identify suggests, one of many largest species within the triggerfish household. This species specifically is thought for its territorial habits, particularly throughout nesting season. Divers usually report being chased or confronted in the event that they get even just a little too near their nesting website. Despite their status, nonetheless, they’re important to reef ecosystems.

5. Sleeping Sperm Whales (Dominica)

In what’s arguably some of the intimate scenes ever captured within the deep, two sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) relaxation aspect by aspect. One gently leans its head on the opposite’s again as, behind, a 3rd drifts together with them. What you won’t understand from this picture’s staging, nonetheless, is that sperm whales sleep vertically.

These whales are the biggest toothed predators on Earth. They dive greater than a kilometer deep in quest of squid. They’re so elusive that, for years, scientists believed they by no means actually slept. Eventually, researchers realized that sperm whales favor brief, synchronized naps whereas floating upright. Most fascinatingly, they solely sleep with one half of their mind at a time.

6. Leafy Sea Dragon (Rapid Bay, South Australia)

The leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques) appears to be like like one thing out of an alien world. Here, we see it drifting by means of darkish waters, with its ornate “leaves” glowing in shades of orange and gold. They’re discovered completely alongside the southern and western coasts of Australia.

As you may’ve been in a position to guess, this species is a grasp of camouflage. The “leaves” you see aren’t appendages used for motion, however reasonably for disguise. With them, they mix nearly completely with seaweed and kelp. Much like their shut relations, seahorses, leafy sea dragons share the same reproductive quirk: males carry and nurture the eggs till they hatch Sadly, habitat loss and air pollution at the moment pose massive threats to its survival.

7. Brandt’s Cormorant in School of Sergeant Major Fish (Sea of Cortez, Mexico)

This lone Brandt’s cormorant (Urile penicillatus) appears to be like misplaced in the midst of a college of sergeant main fish. As calm because the shimmering scene appears to be like, this picture captures a primal second between predator and prey.

Brandt’s cormorants are adept divers, as research from The Journal of Experimental Biology illustrates. They’re able to reaching depths of over 30 meters (98 ft) in pursuit of fish. You can discover them alongside the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California, the place they depend on wholesome fish populations and clear waters for survival.

8. Larval Tripod Fish (Palm Beach, Florida)

Delicate and ethereal, a larval tripod fish (Bathypterois grallator) floats within the blackness of the deep sea. Its translucent fin edges are streaked with a palette of orange, blue and violet. At this stage on this species’ improvement, it appears to be like nearly alien: a luminous wisp in a world with out daylight.

The grownup tripod fish, nonetheless, is much more odd. Adult fin rays are elongated to ensure that them to “stand” on the ocean ground, whereas ready for drifting prey. Capturing one on the larval stage is exceptionally uncommon; these juveniles inhabit the midwater zones, which is much past the attain of most divers.

9. Goby on Tridacna Clam (Raja Ampat, Indonesia)

Tiny however fascinating, a goby (Gobiodon sp.) friends out from the rippled folds of a large tridacna clam. The clam’s iridescent mantle shimmers with electrical blues and greens, which has seemingly created the proper protecting and camouflaging fortress — for the inch-long fish is nestled inside.

Gobies and tridacna clams share a mutually helpful relationship: the fish acquire shelter from predators, whereas their actions assist preserve the clam’s floor clear. This symbiosis is only one of countless tiny alliances that make coral reefs among the many most complicated ecosystems on Earth.

Are fish the least of your worries in the case of the ocean? Take the science-backed Thalassophobia Test to learn how deep your worry of the ocean runs.