Ocean photography lets us dive beneath the surface and see what lives hidden in the deep, blue, massive waters.
This year’s annual Ocean Photography Awards, organized by Oceanographic Magazine, announced their winners, who not only capture marine life but also draw attention to many of the environmental problems that we currently are facing.
This year, the contest had nine categories, and the overall winner, the Ocean Photographer of the Year, was a 25-year-old marine biologist and amateur photographer – Jialing Cai. The Australian National Maritime Museum is hosting an exhibition including all of the winners’ beautiful photographs, which will end in May 2024.
So, without further ado, we invite you to explore this year’s aquatic life through the eyes of these talented photographers.
#15 Conservation (Impact) Photographer Of The Year, 2nd Place Winner Jeroen Hoekendijk
“Far from home, this female walrus hauled herself onto a concrete pier in the harbour of Harlingen in the Netherlands,” says Hoekendijk. “The animal appeared to be in good nutritional condition and was regularly seen feeding on razor clams. Framed by her unexpected surroundings, she takes on a noble, almost melancholic position. The scene reminds me of a museum diorama. Months later, she was spotted off Oslo. By this time, she was named Freya after the Norse goddess of beauty and love. Despite her immortal name, the Norwegian government made the widely-criticised decision to ‘euthanise’ her to ‘protect swimmers’. Freya was shot with a rifle.”
#16 Young Photographer Of The Year, 1st Place Winner Jarvis Smallman
“For years I watched this wave from land just about any chance I could get. I studied the forecasts meticulously, learned about the swell sizes and directions, tides, and wind conditions. One day, it all lined up perfectly and me, and bodyboarder Jarrad Linton went out to finally photograph the wave from the water. Big storm clouds blocked the sun and an electric blue colour came through the wave. I was stunned by the beauty of the scene. As Jarrad was paddling out, this perfect set came rolling in and I pressed the shutter. ”
#17 Young Photographer Of The Year, 2nd Place Winner Aaron Sanders
“Like a bolt of lightning piercing black clouds, this small common squid exploded onto the scene before me,” says Sanders. “Jetting around, it refused to stay still, seemingly intent on exploring our torch light. After observing its movements for some time, I decided to try to capture its trail of motion using rear curtain sync. After a few attempts, I was having some success. Then, all of a sudden, as I pressed the shutter, the little squid shot off jetting a plume of ink into the black water.”
#18 Ocean Portfolio Award, 3rd Place Winner Kat Zhou
“Every year, Baja California is home to one of the largest sardine runs in the world, attracting predators like sea lions, whales, and striped marlin,” says Zhou. “On this occasion, several striped marlin circled below, taking turns rushing up into the baitball to hunt. I dove down when I saw one of the marlin starting to make its way toward the baitball and captured this photo.”
#19 Young Photographer Of The Year, 2nd Place Winner Jake Brandwine
This super macro image shows a vibrant goby against a blue background that complements the orange hues of the goby. “The goby’s eye coincidentally blended with the background,” says Brandwine. “Though I initially wanted a head-on shot with both eyes in focus, the angled perspective beautifully complemented the background.”
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#20 Fine Art Photographer Of The Year, 1st Place Winner Jade Hoksbergen
“At night in the Maldives, bright lights shine down into the water as fishermen seek out baitfish for the country’s sustainable pole and line tuna fishery,” says Hoksbergen. “The light attracts plankton, which in turn attracts small fish. On occasion, they also bring in the largest fish in the ocean – whale sharks. While they were a nuisance to the fishermen in the past, a positive solution has been found by combining the two most important industries in the Maldives: tourism and fishing. Now, when a whale shark shows up at night, the fishermen call the team at COMO Maalifushi and eager guests are able to see and swim with an ocean giant. While taking this photograph, I was enveloped in darkness. I felt dwarfed in the shark’s presence.”
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#21 Fine Art Photographer Of The Year, 3rd Place Winner Henley Spiers
“Hidden yet unmistakable, a Northern gannet stares through a cloud of bubbles,” says Spiers. “The bubbles were created by gannets, Britain’s largest seabird, diving in pursuit of fish. The silhouettes in the sky complete the story.”
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#22 Adventure Photographer Of The Year, 1st Place Winner Todd Glaser
Balaram Stack surfs at Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of O’ahu. “I took this image with a drone which was new to me,” says Glaser. “I have photographed the Pipeline from every angle but have never seen it from above. I managed to get the swell, weather, wind, tide, and talent all in one shot. The rainbow at the edge of the wave is what made this one so special to me.”
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#23 The Ocean Photographer Of The Year, 3rd Place Winner Alvaro Herrero Lopez-Beltran
“A humpback whale dies a slow and painful death after being entangled in ropes and buoys, rendering its tail useless,” says Lopez-Beltran. “The image is a sad metaphor for the slow and painful death that we are inflicting upon our ocean planet.”
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#24 Adventure Photographer Of The Year, 2nd Place Winner Gergo Rugli
“This afternoon was one that I am never going to forget,” says Rugli. “A big swell reached Sydney’s coastline with some waves reaching over 10 feet in height. Very few surfers had the courage to fight with these monsters. It was just before sunset, and the sky was covered with clouds. I didn’t expect any colors, but just before the sun reached the horizon, a gap opened up, and the setting sun painted the whole sky with mysterious red light. I wanted to create a dreamy feeling and started to shoot with a slow shutter speed to capture the unique scene.”
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#25 Human Connection Award: People & Planet Ocean, 3rd Place Winner Jeroen Hoekendijk
“On a stormy grey morning, a rider is confronted with a dead whale,” says Hoekendijk. “Both horse and rider appear to salute the whale, a victim of a mass stranding of 30 whales around the North Sea. Scientific papers hypothesised that strong solar storms had interfered with the whales’ natural ‘GPS’, deceiving them into these shallow waters.”
#26 Ocean Portfolio Award, 1st Place Winner Sirachai Arunrugstichai
A young grey reef shark is hooked by an angler at night at Burma Bank, an offshore plateau in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar. “Although shark fisheries have been legally banned in Myanmar at the national level since 2009, there is a lack of enforcement at sea and poor trade regulation,” says Arunrugstichai. “This image is not a picture of an industrial shark fishing boat. The shark was incidentally caught and released.”
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#27 Conservation (Impact) Photographer Of The Year, 3rd Place Winner Sirachai Arunrugstichai
A response team in PPE cleans oil-contaminated sand along a beach hit by an oil spill in Rayong, Thailand in 2022. “Thailand’s Pollution Control Department reported that a conservatively estimated 180,000 to 200,000 liters of crude oil were released from a pipeline spill off the shore of Rayong,” says Arunrugstichai. “Some subsequent leaks in unknown quantities were also detected throughout the following week. Although the crude oil was cleared off by physical labor and chemical dispersant, the long-term impact on the marine environment is unknown and is still being monitored.”
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#28 Human Connection Award: People & Planet Ocean, 1st Place Winner Jingyi Wang
“Humans have enjoyed the gifts of the sea for generations,” says Wang. “In China, these artisanal fishing fences stood proudly in the sea. I tried to capture this sense of pride and history in my image.”
