Diminutive Seahorses Prime the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year Contest — Colossal

As deep swells from an offshore hurricane have been additional empowered by king tides in Southern California over the past several days, residents skilled firsthand the impacts of human-generated local weather change. Erosion is an innate course of alongside coastlines, the place waves and wind continuously shift the sand and gnaw away at bluffs. Infrastructure initiatives and residential improvement during the last a number of a long time have additionally meant modifications to the pure shoreline, and seashores are usually refilled with tons upon tons of sand. Even so, in simply a few days, a number of the area’s seashores nearly disappeared.

This instance is only one in an rising array of low-lying locations the place our oceans, which continue to warm and rise, display their spectacular authority. That’s the place Oceanographic journal and Blancpain’s annual Ocean Photographer of the Year competitors goals to spotlight a number of the most beloved, spectacular, and little-seen features of our planet’s most expansive waters.

The annual contest introduced its winners of of 2026 this week, awarding high honors to Julien Anton for his black-and-white portrait of a seahorse accompanied by two very tiny juveniles. British photographer Jenny Stock acquired the Female Fifty Fathoms Award, which acknowledges an general observe that pushes the boundaries of girls in ocean images.

Peruse extra photographs under, plus others from this yr’s contest, and see all of the winners within the online gallery.