Listed below are the Winners of the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year  » Explorersweb

Julien Anton of France has gained the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year contest for his unimaginable black-and-white portrait of three seahorses. Against the backdrop of the inky black water, two tiny juveniles appear to pause and look again on the giant male seahorse earlier than swimming away.

Photographed within the seaweed-filled waters round Moorea in French Polynesia, the picture captures a fleeting second. It feels intimate and surprisingly human, as if the younger are wanting again at their father earlier than taking their first tentative steps.  

Speaking to Oceanographic Magazine, Anton described capturing the picture. “We spent numerous hours looking out in tough circumstances, with no assure of discovering a single seahorse. That is what made the second so extraordinary: When the juveniles turned again in the direction of the grownup, it felt like one thing far past what I had dared to hope for.

“I am not a professional photographer. For me, photography is simply how I share what I see and feel.” 

The photograph initially took prime place in the competitors’s Ocean Wildlife class earlier than happening to take the general prime prize. 

 

Contest background

Launched in 2020, the annual Ocean Photographer of the Year competitors, introduced by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain, goals to seize the sweetness, variety, and complexity of our oceans. Will Harrison, founding father of the competitors, defined, “These photographs don’t just capture what’s beneath the surface. They surface the stories our planet most needs us to hear.” 

 

Categories

This yr, the competition acquired over 15,000 entries in seven most important classes: Ocean Wildlife, Ocean Fine Art, Ocean Adventure, Conservation Impact, Conservation Hope, Human Connection: People & Planet Ocean, and The Ocean Unseen: Hidden Worlds. There have been additionally awards for the Ocean Portfolio and the Female Fifty Fathoms Award. 

Ocean Unseen: Hidden Worlds is a brand new class launched this yr that focuses on the ocean’s smallest and least-seen inhabitants. The first winner of the award is Mitsuna Kawai of Japan for her picture of tiny iridescent ribbonfish taken throughout a blackwater dive off Japan. The fish seems virtually ghostlike in opposition to the darkness and is surrounded by tiny organisms drifting via the open ocean.

 

British photographer Jenny Stock gained the Female Fifty Fathoms Award for her underwater picture of an American crocodile weaving via mangroves in Cuba. Unlike all different classes, photographers can’t put themselves ahead for this award. Instead, they must be nominated by their friends. The award started in 2021 particularly to honor the “boundary-pushing women in ocean photography.” 

 

Fine artwork

The Ocean Fine Art class takes a extra creative strategy. Matty Smith of Australia gained with a dramatic black-and-white picture of a tawny nurse shark accompanied by remoras within the Maldives. 

In the Adventure class, Gergo Rugli captured a totally totally different sort of ocean encounter. His photograph exhibits a rare assembly between people and marine wildlife: dolphins browsing alongside individuals at Tamarama Beach in Sydney, Australia. The animals spent greater than an hour using the waves with the surfers.

 

Conservation

Other images give attention to the difficult relationship between individuals and marine wildlife. James Ferrara gained the Conservation Impact class with a picture of a whale shark surrounded by divers and snorkelers within the Maldives. Though the {photograph} is visually spectacular, the big variety of individuals surrounding a single animal additionally raises questions in regards to the results of wildlife tourism.

 

In distinction, the Conservation Hope class highlights the human effort to guard marine life. Thomas Pavy gained the class for his photograph of scientists finding out a fantastic hammerhead shark in French Polynesia with laser-calibrated video photogrammetry.

 

The Human Connection: People & Planet Ocean class was gained by Rui Duarte, whose picture exhibits a group of volunteers making an attempt to rescue a stranded pilot whale in Boa Vista, Cape Verde. Meanwhile, Miguel Serrano Ruiz acquired the Ocean Portfolio Award for a group of photographs documenting efforts to guard olive ridley sea turtles in Baja California, Mexico.