The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition celebrates the stunning underwater world that most of us never get to see. From marine life to shipwrecks, via the excellently named photo "Oh no, Godzilla", the selection of underwater photography displays a dazzling range of subjects.
Here are the winners, runners up and third place of each category, demonstrating the very best of this year's selection. For even more beautiful underwater photographs and to learn more about the subjects, take a look at the entire collection atunderwaterphotographeroftheyear.com.
Gentle Giants
Wide angle winner: François Baelen (Reunion Island)
Curious Crabeater
Wide angle runner up: Jessica Farrer (USA)
All we need is victory!
Wide angle third place: Konstantin Killer (Germany)
Fast cuttlefish
Macro winner: Fabio Iardino (Italy)
Inside the eggs
Macro runner up:Flavio Vailati (Italy)
Tiger Wave
Macro runner up:Henley Spiers (Philippines)
Big guns
Wrecks winner: René B. Andersen (Denmark)
Wreck of the Chrisoula K.
Wrecks runner up: Tobias Friedrich (Germany)
The Bell
Wrecks third place: Pekka Tuuri (Finland)
The Gauntlet
Behaviour winner: Richard Barnden (UK)
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019
British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019
The Heat Run
Behaviour runner up: Scott Portelli (Australia)
On the summit
Behaviour third place: Fu Liang (China)
Fly high and smile
Portrait winner: Nicholas Samaras (Greece)
Oh no, Godzilla
Portrait runner up: Bruce Sudweeks (USA)
Transgender Kobudai fish
Portrait third place: Fabrice Dudenhofer (France)
Between Two Worlds
Black & White winner:Henley Spiers (Philippines)
Mercury Tunnel
Black & White runner up: Ken Kiefer (USA)
Serena - Italian beauty
Black & White third place: Gianni Pecchiar (Italy)
Hairy in the Sunrise
Compact winner:Enrico Somogyi (Germany)
Glow in the dark
Compact runner up:ManBD (Malaysia)
Spanish Dancer and Clouds
Compact third place:Enrico Somogyi (Germany)
Paradise
Up & Coming winner:Taeyup Kim (Korea)
Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019
My place under the boat
Up & Coming runner up: Matej Bergoc (Slovenia)
Sanctuary
Up & Coming third place: Remuna (USA)
Off the wall
British Waters Wide Angle winner: Robert Bailey (UK)
Jack Perks
British Waters Wide Angle runner up:Jack Perks (UK)
Fish Soup
British Waters Wide Angle third place: Rick Ayrton (UK)
Beauty in the Mud
British Waters Macro winner: Arthur Kingdon (UK)
Swanage Sea Hare
British Waters Macro runner up: Paul Pettitt (UK)
Proud Parent
British Waters Macro third place:Mark Kirkland (UK)
Morning Tide Mackerel
British Waters Living Together winner: Victoria Walker (UK)
Lovely Legs
British Waters Living Together runner up:Arthur Kingdon (UK)
Valentine Tank
British Waters Living Together third place: Paul Pettitt (UK)
Playtime?
British Waters Compact winner:Martin Edser (UK)
Split Level Frog Spawning
British Waters Compact runner up: Ian Michael Wade (UK)
Cornish Alien
British Waters Compact third place: Andy Ball (UK)
Caretta caretta turtle
Marine Conservation winner:Eduardo Acevedo (Spain)
Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2019
Killing angels
Marine Conservation runner up:João Rodrigues (Portugal)
Silent Killer
Marine Conservation third place:Noam Kortler (Israel)
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