Oceans cover 71 percent of Earth with 321,003,271 cubic miles of water. The the world’s largest mountain range and deepest canyon occupy these might waters, but warming waters and habitat destruction have left the ocean‘s creatures struggling. The 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year competition celebrates Big Blue’s incredible beauty while also highlighting the urgent need to protect it in a rapidly changing world.
A bottlenose dolphin bites a small fish beside a traditional bagan fishing platform in Indonesia. These dolphins have learned to associate the illuminated nets with an easy source of food, often taking discarded or unwanted fish provided by fishermen. Bagan vessels use lights at night to attract fish before lowering nets from floating platforms. This image captures the close relationship between a wild predator and a human fishing practice, while revealing how animal behaviour can adapt to changing ocean environments. Category: Wildlife Credit: Henley Spiers / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026
“These photographs don’t just capture what’s beneath the surface; they surface the stories our planet most needs us to hear,” Ocean Photographer of the Year founder and director, Will Harrison, said in a statement. “As the pressures on our ocean grow, so does the importance of the artists who bear witness to them. This year’s finalists have produced work of extraordinary depth and courage, and we’re proud that Ocean Photographer of the Year continues to be the platform where those stories reach the world.”
On Thursday morning, co-presenters Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain announced the finalists for this year’s contest. The category winners and overall winner will be announced in September.
A New Zealand fur seal tears apart a rough skate in the waters of New Zealand, while seabirds gather for the scraps. Unable to swallow such large prey whole, the seal throws the skate repeatedly to break it into smaller pieces. Photographed from a kayak, this scene reveals the feeding strategy of a powerful predator and the chain of life that follows every meal. Category: Wildlife Credit: Allan Cronin / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026In the Pacific waters of Mexico, this photograph captures the aftermath of a successful orca hunt. Nearly an hour after a pod separated a humpback whale calf from its mother, the orcas resurfaced carrying their prey between them. The event reveals the cooperative hunting strategies of orcas, where multiple individuals work together to isolate and subdue large prey. What the image doesn’t show is that after the kill, other scavengers, including silky sharks, were drawn to the remains, showing how one event can influence an entire marine food web. Category: Wildlife Credit: Rafael Fernandez Caballero / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026Dolphins ride the waves alongside surfers at Tamarama Beach, Sydney, during a powerful swell and offshore winds. The pod stayed with the surfers for more than an hour, moving through the lineup as naturally as the people around them. Captured from the water, this image shows the ocean as a shared space, where humans and wildlife briefly move together within the same powerful coastal environment. Category: Adventure Credit: Gergo Rugli / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 GERGO RUGLIA cave diver follows a yellow guideline through the winding passages of a Mexican cenote. Formed over thousands of years as limestone dissolved and caves flooded, these submerged systems preserve spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. In the darkness, careful buoyancy is essential to avoid disturbing fine silt, allowing the cave’s remarkable clarity and geological history to remain undisturbed. Category: Adventure Credit: Romona Robbins Reynolds / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026Three surfers converge on the same wave at Teahupoʻo, French Polynesia, after a paddler is thrown from his board. The tow-in surfer immediately changes course, grabbing the cameraman to avoid a collision. At Teahupoʻo, where waves can become almost vertical, decisions are made in fractions of a second. This image captures the split-second judgement and teamwork needed to stay safe in one of the world’s most demanding surf breaks. Category: Adventure Credit: Marc Lenfant / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 MarcLenfantA freediver is surrounded by a vast school of sardines, which part to form a striking halo as they move around her. Captured during an unplanned morning dive, the image reveals the calm trust that can exist between people and marine life. It is a reminder that patience and respect for the ocean often lead to its most extraordinary moments. Category: Adventure Credit: Benjamín Yávar / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026Hawaiian green sea turtles (honu) rest together inside a sheltered sea cave on Maui at sunset. Once heavily hunted, these turtles have recovered through decades of protection, and gatherings like this show the progress made. After carefully entering the cave, the photographer watched as more turtles arrived with the rising tide, eventually counting 17 individuals sharing this quiet refuge. Category: Conservation (Hope) Credit: Leighton Lum / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 LEIGHTONA great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran) is photographed at 55 metres depth in Tiputa Pass, Rangiroa Atoll, during a population survey. This image represents the moment an anonymous shark becomes a known individual. Through photo identification and laser-calibrated video photogrammetry, scientists can track sharks over time, measuring size, sex and population trends. Conducted without bait or attractants, this research helps reveal the lives of Tamataroa, a culturally respected species protected in French Polynesia. Category: Conservation (Hope) Credit: Thomas Pavy / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026A whale shark is surrounded by divers and snorkelers in the Maldives, revealing the overwhelming pressure that crowded wildlife tourism can place on marine animals. With almost 50 people visible in the frame, this image captures the reality behind some popular wildlife encounters: an animal seeking space while people compete for a closer view. It challenges us to rethink how we experience and protect the species we admire. Category: Conservation (Impact) Credit: James Ferrara / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026Three gentoo penguins stand beside the rusting remains of the former Hektor whaling station at Whalers Bay, Deception Island. Once a centre of Antarctic whaling, the site is now being reclaimed by wildlife and the harsh polar environment. The penguins appear almost like sentinels, watching over the ruins of an industry that once exploited these waters. Today, the silence is broken not by machinery, but by the return of the wildlife that has made this place its own again. Category: Conservation (Impact) Credit: Romain Barats / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026A silky shark circles helplessly after taking bait from an illegal longline, its fate sealed by a steel hook and heavy line designed to prevent escape. Photographed less than 48 hours after Baja California’s seasonal shark fishing ban ended, the image reveals a hidden reality unfolding far from shore. A small group of pilot fish remains beside the shark, highlighting how the loss of one animal can ripple through an entire ecosystem. Category: Conservation (Impact) Credit: Daniel Taylor / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026A California sea lion has plastic netting tightly wrapped around her neck. This is a stark reminder of the lasting impacts of marine plastic pollution. The wound had already cut deep into her skin, yet rescuing her was impossible because of her location within a crowded colony. Images like this reveal the hidden cost of discarded waste and give a face to an often-unseen crisis. The catchlight in her eye creates an intimate connection that is difficult to ignore. Category: Conservation (Impact) Credit: Celia Kujala / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026A giant oceanic sunfish (Mola mola) glides through the clear waters of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Encountered during the final hour of a 2025 sardine run expedition, the unusually pale fish approaches the freedivers on its own, while soft sunlight gives it a moon-like glow. The unexpected meeting is a reminder that the ocean’s most memorable moments often happen when least expected. Category: Human Connection Credit: Anita Verde / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 SUMMITS TO SEASVolunteers, surfers, lifeguards and conservation groups work together to refloat stranded short-finned pilot whales. While many animals initially returned to the sea, the pod stranded again further along the coast, highlighting the complexity of mass strandings. The image captures compassion in action, but it also reflects how wildlife rescue continues to evolve. In the months that followed, international experts trained the local community in safer, science-based stranding response techniques, strengthening future rescue efforts. Category: Human Connection Credit: Rui Duarte / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 RUI DUARTEA fearless teenager stands at Bronte Ocean Pool, Sydney, as a powerful swell sends waves crashing over the closed pool. While the conditions forced beaches to shut, people watched the waves from behind the fence. A group of local teenagers climbed into the closed pool and stood on the edge, waiting for the waves to crash over them and sweep them across the pool. It was undoubtedly dangerous, but demonstrates their deep familiarity and connection with the ocean. Category: Human Connection Credit: Gergo Rugli / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026A male Banggai cardinalfish shelters newly hatched juveniles inside his mouth, continuing the parental care that follows a three-week incubation period. After hatching, the male may brood the young for another 10 days without feeding, protecting them from predators until they become more independent. This image captures two juveniles peering from their father’s mouth, revealing the specialised mouthbrooding strategy that helps this species increase the survival of its young. Category: Ocean Unseen Credit: Suliman Alatiqi / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026A harlequin crab rests at the entrance of a tubular sponge, carefully tending her cluster of orange eggs. By positioning herself in the current, she helps aerate and protect the developing embryos while keeping them close beneath her claws. Capturing this rare moment of maternal care required several dives at the same site, waiting for the crab to emerge. A snoot light isolated her from the busy reef, revealing an intimate glimpse of life hidden within the sponge. Category: Ocean Unseen Credit: Andrea Michelutti / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 Andrea MicheluttiA chocolate-lined top snail releases egg packages into the water during a night dive. This gastropod is a broadcast spawner, meaning males and females release sperm and eggs into the surrounding water, where fertilisation occurs by chance. Close inspection reveals the snail’s eye and the curved appendage used to release the eggs, offering a detailed view of reproduction in a small reef inhabitant. Category: Ocean Unseen Credit: Lale Alev Ozten Low / Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 L Alev Ozten Low
