Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024 winners

Alex Dawson has been named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024, for his image of a free diver examining the aftermath of whaling.

Whale Bones beat more than 6,500 photographs from around the world.

“Whale Bones was photographed in the toughest conditions, as a breath-hold diver descends below the Greenland ice sheet to bear witness to the carcasses,” Alex Mustard, who chaired the judging panel, said.

“The diver’s suit and torch give it a ‘visiting alien’ feel.

“The composition flows effortlessly and takes your eye on the right journey to tell the story.”

The contest has 13 categories, including Macro, Wide-Angle, Behaviour and Wreck, as well as four for photos in British waters.

Jenny Stock was named as British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024, for Star Attraction.

“Loch Leven is a Scottish dive site near Oban,” she said.

“As I descended into the dark green depths of the sea loch, on a dusk dive, I approached an area where my torch picked out the vivid colours of a living carpet of thousands of brittle stars.

“I was happily snapping away, when I spotted this purple sea urchin and I got really excited.

“A dominant star next to this graphic invertebrate created a beautifully balanced pair, perfectly surrounded by an entanglement of the background.”

Former Photographer of the Year Spaniard Rafael Fernandez Caballero won Behaviour and Portrait, with a close-up of a gray whale’s eye and an action shot of a Bryde’s whale engulfing an entire bait ball, both taken in Magdalena Bay, Baja California, Mexico.

“This photo shows the very moment of attack, with the whale’s ventral pleats wide open and filtering the prey from the water using their baleens after engulfing hundreds of kilograms of sardines in one bite – simply unforgettable,” Caballero said.

Mr Mustard said: “Few people have ever gazed into the eye of a whale.

“Through this remarkable image, many will be able to catch a glimpse of this intelligent soul – a groundbreaking underwater portrait.”

Lisa Stengel, from the United States, was named Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024, for her image of a mahimahi catching a sardine, in Mexico.

“If you listen closely, there’s an enormous amount of sound in the ocean, especially surrounding bait balls.,” Stengel said.

“I honed in on the sound of mahi attacks and followed this unmistakeable sound with my camera.

“This technique, coupled with serendipitous conditions, gave me the window of opportunity to capture this special moment.”

Portuguese photographer Nuno Sá was named Save Our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2024, for Saving Goliath, showing beachgoers trying to save a sperm whale stranded near Costa da Caparica, just across the river from Lisbon.

“A massive sperm whale seemed to be struggling to swim as it slowly moved towards the coast, reaching the shallow waters of the beach,” Sá said.

“Together, they try to help the giant back into the sea.

“Several hours later, the whale takes its last breath, its body crushed by gravity as it lays on the sand.”

Talia Greis, from Australia, won Macro, with an abstract portrait of a potbelly seahorse in the murky waters near Bare Island, Sydney.

Martin Broen, of the USA, won Wrecks, having shot two Chieftain tanks, with a fish-eye lens, at the underwater military museum off the coast of Aqaba, Jordan

The vehicles, imitating a battle formation, have been stationed at a coral reef in the Red Sea.

Jasmine Skye Smith won Black & White category, with an intriguing minimalist composition of two synchronised swimmers in a pool in Perth, Western Australia.

American photographer Kat Zhou won British Waters Wide-Angle, with an image of dive-bombing gannets in Shetland.

The judges loved the bubble rings conveying the energy the birds are exerting.

Kirsty Andrews won British Waters Living Together category, with a shot of a blenny perfectly framed inside a glass bottle.

“Butterfly blenny naturally choose abandoned whelk shells as their home but it seems they can get creative,” she said..

“On the seabed of the river Fal, Cornwall, amongst beautiful pink maerl, many blennies have chosen to use discarded glass bottles as a shelter.”

Jonathan Bunker won British Waters Compact, for his shot of a catshark in bootlace seaweed, at Chesil Cove, Dorset.

Enrico Somogyi won Compact, with a photo of a nudibranch sea slug with a emperor shrimp on its head, in Tulamben, on the north-east coast of Bali, Indonesia.