Scary, Intimate, Beautiful: The Finalists Of Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2026

A giant oceanic sunfish in Mexico's Baja Peninsula encounters a freediver.

Human Connection, People and Planet finalist: A giant oceanic sunfish in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula encounters a freediver.

Anita Verde – Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2026

The finalists for the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 competition have been announced, showcasing a remarkable collection of images that celebrate undersea photography in all its glory — from beauty and biodiversity to the fragility and urgent need to protect our oceans.

This year’s finalists capture extraordinary moments in marine life. Highlights include Hawaiian green sea turtles (honu) — once heavily hunted and now recovering through decades of protection — resting inside a sheltered paradise in Maui, two orcas working together to carry away a humpback whale calf and a scary looking scorpionfish devouring a lizardfish.

Forbes13 Beautiful, Standout Winners Of U.N. World Oceans Day Photo CompetitionBy Cecilia RodriguezOcean Photographer: The Hidden Worlds Undersea

New for 2026, the Ocean Unseen: Hidden Worlds category focuses on the ocean’s smallest and least visible inhabitants. From delicate invertebrates to microscopic life forms revealed through close-up photography, an intimate look at the hidden architecture supporting marine ecosystems.

ForbesOcean Photographer Of The Year: 15 Wild Sea-Life Amazing FinalistsBy Cecilia Rodriguez

Thousands of extraordinary images entered by the world’s finest ocean photographers to the Ocean Photographer of the Year competition show the full spectrum of marine life through drone, coastal, and underwater perspectives.

Ocean Photographer: The Man And The Sea

The Human Connection and Adventure categories explore the enduring relationship between people and the sea from the unexpected encounter between a freediver and a giant oceanic sunfish (mola mola) in the clear waters of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula (photo above) and thousands of small wooden huts and fish-farming cages stretching across the sea and connected by floating walkways to dolphins riding the waves alongside surfers at Tamarama Beach, Sydney, reminding us that the ocean is a place of profound importance and joyful possibility.

The Conservation Impact category confronts some of the most serious challenges facing marine ecosystems. The finalist images document the consequences of overfishing and bycatch, the impact of pollution on marine mammals and the killing of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands, a practice known as grindadráp.

The Winners Of Ocean Photographer 2026

“These photographs don’t just capture what’s beneath the surface; they surface the stories our planet most needs us to hear,” said Will Harrison, founder and director of Ocean Photographer of the Year, which is presented by Oceanographic and Blancpain. “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.”

The category winners and the overall Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 will be announced in September.

Ocean Wildlife

Ocean WIldlkife finalist: aftermath of a successful orca hunt

Rafael Fernandez Caballero – Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2026

This photograph captures the aftermath of a successful orca hunt in the Pacific waters of Mexico. 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 impact and nurture an entire marine food web.

Ocean WIldlife finalist: A male cardinalfish release the larvae breeding inside his mouth.

Shigeno Yuta – Ocean Photographer Of The Year 2026

A male cardinalfish releases the larvae he has been brooding inside his mouth.

Although this species is common in Japanese waters, the image reveals a rarely noticed stage of its life cycle: The male carries and protects the developing eggs for around a week, eating little or nothing during this period. The larvae are released over several events, with the first release containing the largest number.

Ocean Wildlife finalist: Feeding frenzy

Allan Cronin – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

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 – the feeding strategy of a powerful predator and the
chain of life that follows every meal.

Ocean Wildlife finalist: A scorpionfish eating a lizardfish

Andrea Michelutti – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A scorpionfish consumes a lizardfish in a moment of hunting behavior, revealing the constant balance between survival and vulnerability on coral reefs and the brief, powerful encounters that shape life there.

Ocean Photographer: The Human Connection

Human Connection, People and Planet Ocean: A vast floating community. stretching across the sea via floating walkways connecting wooden huts

Qingsheng Sun – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

Thousands of fish-farming cages stretch across the sea, connected by floating walkways and small wooden huts to form a vast floating community. Extending for kilometers, this carefully organized aquaculture network supports local livelihoods while transforming the coastal landscape.

Human Connection, People and Planet Ocean: Four fishermen in Xiapu’s intertidal zone, using traditional push nets

Lin Yongxuan 林永炫( 瘦子 – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

Four fishermen stand in the shallow waters of Xiapu’s intertidal zone and use traditional push nets that spread across the surface like colorful sails. Water movement has carved patterns into the tidal flats, creating a transition from warm golden tones to cool teal waters.

Human Connection, People and Planet Ocean: Volunteers and conservation groups work to refloat stranded short-finned pilot whales.

Rui Duarte – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

Volunteers, 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.

Human Connection, People and Planet Ocean: A fisherman jumps from a boat to harpoon an adult orca,

Sirachai Arunrugstichai – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A Lamafa, the lead harpooner in the designated area in the Savu Sea, Lembata Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, leaps from his boat to strike an orca with a hand-thrown harpoon. For more than 600 years, the community has relied on hunting whales and other cetaceans for food, with the meat shared throughout the village.

Today, the use of motorboats has made the hunt increasingly controversial, placing traditional subsistence practices at the center of debates about culture, livelihoods and marine conservation.

Orcas are one of the largest preys the Lamaleran catch, which is not common and considered dangerous. The orca in the photo eventually died, but also capsized the boat, leaving the fishers to be rescued by other boats.

The Ocean Photographer Hidden Worlds

Ocean Unseen – Hidden Worlds finalist: A ribbonfish rises through the dark waters of Osezaki, Japan.

Mitsuna Kawai – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A ribbonfish rises vertically through the dark waters of Osezaki, Japan. Its long, silver body and delicate fins are adapted for life in the open ocean.

This image was captured during a winter blackwater dive. Around the ribbonfish, a swarm of salps – small, jelly-like animals that feed on tiny particles in the ocean – creates a glimpse of life moving through the deep sea.

Ocean Unseen – Hidden Worlds finalist: A Braun’s pughead pipefish between coral polyps in Lembeh, Indonesia

Luis Arpa Toribio – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A Braun’s pughead pipefish peers from between coral polyps in Lembeh, Indonesia. Its unusual features give it a curious, almost surprised expression, helping people connect with a species rarely seen outside its coral home.

Some guides damage coral colonies to make these tiny fish easier to show to visitors, but this image was captured by waiting patiently and allowing the animal to appear naturally.

Ocean Unsseen – Hidden Worlds finalisst: A male Banggai cardinalfish shelters newly hatched juveniles inside his mouth.

Suliman Alatiqi – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A 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 specialized mouthbrooding strategy that helps this species increase the survival of its young.

Fine Art And Adventure

Fine Art finalist: A superpod of spinner dolphins swims through deep water.

Marko Dimitrijevic – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A superpod of spinner dolphins swims through deep water 20 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

While spinner dolphins are often seen in small groups, they can also gather in schools of hundreds of animals. Living in large groups helps protect them from predators and supports their highly social behaviour.

Although they move as a coordinated pod, each dolphin has unique markings and can be identified as an individual within the group.

Adventure finalist: A freediver surrounded by a vast school of sardines,

Benjamín Yávar – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A 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, a reminder that patience and respect for the ocean often lead to its most extraordinary moments.

Dolphins and surfers ride the waves at Sydney’s Tamarama Beach.

Gergo Rugli – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

Dolphins 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.

Adventure finalist: A young surfer ridesout in front of a powerful wave.

Stefan Mathers – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

Eighteen-year-old surfer Luke Smith rides a powerful wave at the end of the surf season. The swirling foam and the crashing white water behind him resemble a snow avalanche.

The size of the wave highlights the ocean’s raw power and the bravery of the surfer. Luke was towed into these large waves by his brother, who also acted as his safety partner, which is essential in these conditions.

Ocean Photographer: Conservation Impact And Hope

Conservation Hope finalist: Hawaiian green sea turtles inside a sheltered sea cave on Maui

Leighton Lum – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

Hawaiian 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.

Conservation Impact finalist A California sea lion with plastic netting tightly wrapped around her neck.

Celia Kujala – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A California sea lion’s eyes betray the pain from the plastic netting tightly wrapped around her neck. This is a stark reminder of the lasting impact 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 bear witness to an oft-unseen crisis. The light in her eye creates an intimate connection that is difficult to ignore.

Conservation Impact finalist: Kids watch hunters killing whales in the Faroe Islands.

Karsten Michels – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

During a Grindadráp in the Faroe Islands, a pilot whale lies on the shore as hunters carry out the final stages of the hunt. Children watch a tradition that has been passed between generations.

The visible wounds and hunting tools show the injuries caused during a process that can last for hours. Whole pods of pilot whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins are driven onto beaches by boats and are killed for their meat and blubber.

More than 1,000 whales are typically killed each year, despite ongoing concerns over high levels of heavy metals in the meat.

Conservation Impact finalist: A whale shark surrounded by divers and snorkelers in the Maldives

James Ferrara – Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A 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.

All the 2026 finalists of Ocean Photographer Of The Year demonstrate the power of undersea photography to reveal unseen ecosystems, document environmental challenges and inspire greater care for the ocean.

Tags: