From an intact WWII airplane to an endangered pink dolphin, the Underwater Photographer of the Year awards reveal a whole new perspective
A beautiful wreck
The winners of the Underwater Photographer of the Year awards have been announced with 6000 pictures entered by underwater photographers from 72 countries. The images showcase a wide range of unusual phenomena captured beneath the waterline
Here: Brett Eldridge captured a sonar image of this almost completely intact, single-engine WWII airplane. The plane is a F8F-1 Bearcat, a rare aircraft that Neil Armstrong famously once said was his favorite. The photograph took home first prize in the wreckage category
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Credit: Brett Eldridge
Up close and personal
An up close photograph of a plainfin midshipman nest. The unusual species are deep water fish that travel to the intertidal zone to spawn. The males sing to attract females and she will lay as many eggs as his singing deserves before moving on to the next. The shot was selected as the macro category winner
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Tickled pink
Kat Zhou's photo, which was the overall winner of the competition, shows a pink river dolphin breaching the surface of the Amazon river at sunset. The species is endangered, with numbers falling year on year
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Credit: Kat Zhou
Peekaboo
A female leopard seal photographed by Rafael Fernandez Caballero with ice framing the leopard seal in its environment. The photographer described the seal as the 'most special and epic predator on the planet'
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Credit: Brett Eldridge
Eye to eye
A shot of the Variable Blenny by Tony Reed. The fish had been caring over its eggs inside the crevice before it curiously approached the camera
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Credit: Tony Reed
Swimming trunks
This photo aims to emphasise the beauty of an elephants trunk. Suliman Alatiqi had to return to the sea a second time to get the perfectly lit shot of the nostrils. Thankfully, the elephant was not afraid of the lens
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Credit: Suliman Alatiqi
Lone ranger
A slow shutter speed combined with rear curtain sync and lots of flash captures a Blue Shark swimming through the frame, whilst rendering the background with an oily, smooth texture
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Credit: Nicholas More
Dinnertime
A common snapping turtle photographed in a freshwater spring. These turtles consume vegetation, live prey, and also serve as scavengers in aquatic ecosystems. Here the turtle is consuming a scavenged flatfish, commonly known as hog-choker
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Credit: Bryant Turffs
A whole new world
Sunlight beats down through a marine jungle of Himanthalia algae on the chalk reefs of the Needles Marine Conservation Zone. With striking rock formations, the Needles on the Isle of Wight attracts close to 500,000 visitors annually
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Credit: Theo Vickers
Crowded
The whale sharks on the Ningaloo are often accompanied by bait-balls, where the small fish use the shark as a floating shelter. Ollie Clarke said the shar almost looked as if it was getting fed up with the small fish and was attempting to shake off the swarm
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Credit: Ollie Clarke
Safe pair of hands
Paradorn, a rescued Irrawaddy dolphin calf nibbles on a baby bottle, while resting in the arms of its caretaker at the rehabilitation facility of Marine Endangered Species Veterinary Hospital, Rayong, Thailand
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Credit: Sirachai Arunrugstichai
Stick with me
A pipefish clinging to a piece of floating bootlace weed whilst the other holds onto its companions neck in Chesil Beach, Dorset. The image is taken from below looking up towards the surface with the clouds in the background
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Credit: Ryan Stalker