“Whale Bones was photographed in the toughest conditions,” explains the chair of judging panel and distinguished photographer Alex Mustard. “As a breath-hold diver descends below the Greenland ice sheet to bear witness to the carcasses. The composition invites us to consider our impact on the great creatures of this planet. Since the rise of humans, wild animals have declined by 85 per cent.
"Today, just 4 per cent of mammals are wildlife, the remaining 96 per cent are humans and our livestock. Our way needs to change to find a balance with nature.”
Portuguese photographer Nuno Sá was named ‘Save Our Seas Foundation’ Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2024. His image, called ‘Saving Goliath’, shows beachgoers trying in vain to save a stranded sperm whale on a Portuguese beach.
Underwater Photographer of the Year is an annual competition that celebrates the best underwater photography and has been running since 1965.
Today’s competition attracts entries from around the world, with 13 categories that test photographers with themes such as macro, wide angle, behaviour and wreck photography, as well as four categories for photos taken specifically in British waters.
Here are our favourites from the winners and ranked images from this year's competition.
Winner – Macro category
A pot-bellied seahorse (Hippocampus abdominalis) with interesting markings is pictured surrounded by a vibrant green coral, photographed at Bare Island, Australia. Photo by Talia Greis/UPY2024
Winner – Wrecks category
This amazing scene is part of a photo competition that took place in Aqaba, Jordan. The tanks form part of an underwater military museum where machines are sunk to depths of 15 to 28m and posed in battle formations. Photo by Martin Broen/UPY2024
Winner – British Waters Compact category
A catshark (Scyliorhinidae) pokes its head through a blanket of bootlace weed at Chesil Cove, Dorset, United Kingdom. Photo by Jonathan Bunker/UPY2024
Winner – Black & White category
A synchronised swimming team practice in a dive pool in Perth, Australia. Photo by Jasmine Skye Smith/UPY2024
Winner – Compact category
This amazing image shows a nudibranch with an emperor shrimp (Periclimenes imperator) perched on its head. This image was taken in Tulamten, Bali, Indonesia. Photo by Enrico Somogyi/UPY2024
Winner – Behaviour category
A bait ball of sardines is decimated by a Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei), in this image taken off the coast of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. In the image you can see the whale’s ventral pleats wide open as they filter the prey from the water. Photo by Rafael Fernandez Caballero/UPY2024
Winner – British Waters Living Together category
A butterfly blenny (Blennius ocellaris) pokes out of a green glass bottle in this image, taken on the Fal River, Cornwall, UK. Photo by Kirsty Andrews/UPY2024
Winner – Up & Coming category
At the very moment this image was taken, a mahi-mahi fish (Coryphaena hippurus) was swooping in and grabbing a fish from a bait ball in Magdalena Bay, Mexico. Photo by Lisa Stengel/UPY2024
Winner – Portrait category
A curious and friendly grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) makes aquantance with the photographer in this intimate portrait, shot in Magdalena Bay, Mexico. Photo by Rafael Fernandez Caballero/UPY2024
Winner – British Waters Wide-Angle category
Northern gannets (Morus bassanus) dive for food in this image taken in Shetland, United Kingdom. Photo by Kat Zhou/UPY2024
Save Our Seas Foundation Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year
A massive sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is shown on the golden beaches of Costa da Caparicain, Portgual, as a crowd of people flock around and attempt to push it back into the water. Sadly, after several hours the whale passed away. Photo by Nuno Sa/UPY2024
Winner – British Waters Macro category
This amazing image shows a living carpet of thousands of brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) surrounding a sea urchin (Echinoidea) in Loch Leven, Scotland, United Kingdom. Photo by Jenny Stock/UPY2024
Runner-up – Portrait category
This cheeky cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) is trying to attack the camera lens below a kelp forest, in this image shot in Monterey, California, USA. Photo by Jon Anderson/UPY2024
Runner-up – Black & White category
An amazingly clear image of a pair of great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) swimming in the waters of South Neptune Island, Australia. Photo by Matthew Smith/UPY2024
Runner-up – Behaviour category
Two female zoarchias (Stichaeidae), a type of marine-ray fish, face off during a fight. They usually fight over a suitable spot for spawning. This image was taken in Oda, Shimane, Japan. Photo by Jinggong Zhang/UPY2024
Third place – British Wide-Angle category
This wreck is that of U1021, a German U-boat that was sunk off the coast of North Cornwall, United Kingdom in late 1944 or early 1945. The boat was destroyed by a mine field in the Bristol Channel, and none of the crew survived, making this is very eerie image. Photo by Rick Ayrton/UPY2024
James Cutmore is the picture editor of BBC Science Focus Magazine. He has worked on the magazine and website for over a decade, telling compelling science stories through the use of striking imagery. He holds a degree in Fine Art, and has been nominated for the British Society of Magazine Editors Talent Awards, being highly commended in 2020. His main areas of interest include photography that highlights positive technology and the natural world. For many years he was a judge for the Wellcome Trust's image competition, as well as judging for the Royal Photographic Society.
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