Spectacular Winning Photos From The Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2020 Contest

Underwater Photographer of the Year celebrates photography beneath the surface of the ocean, lakes and rivers. More than 5,500 underwater pictures were entered in 13 categories by underwater photographers from 70 countries around the world.

Marine conservation category winner: Last Dawn, Last Breath by Pasquale Vassallo (Italy) in Tyrrhenian Sea, Bacoli, Naples, Italy. As the fishermen quickly hauled on the nets, I tried to take some shots of trapped fish still suffering in the mesh, such as this tuna (Euthynnus alletteratus). (Photo by Pasquale Vassallo/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

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Marine conservation category runner-up: Double Trouble with a Glimmer of Hope by David Alpert (UK) in a Hong. Kong dry food market and in Misool, Raja Ampat. A blacktip reef shark in Misool, a former shark finning station, overlaid on an image of shark fins in Hong Kong. (Photo by David Alpert/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Underwater photographer of the year 2020 and wide angle category winner: Frozen Mobile Home by Greg Lecoeur (France) in the Antarctic peninsula, Antarctica. Crabeater seals swim around an iceberg. These massive and mysterious habitats are dynamic kingdoms that support marine life. As they swing and rotate slowly through polar currents, icebergs fertilise the oceans by carrying nutrients from land that spark blooms of phytoplankton, fundamental to the carbon cycle. (Photo by Greg Lecoeur/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Wide angle category runner-up: Fotteyo Overhangs by Oleg Gaponyuk ( Russian Federation) in the Maldives. Fotteyo overhangs in the southern Maldives has golden bunches of soft corals that you can see in this picture. (Photo by Oleg Gaponyuk/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British underwater photographer of the year 2020 and wide angle category highly commended: Rabbit Fish Zoom Blur by Nicholas More (UK) in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. A school of friendly rabbitfish under a jetty. (Photo by Nicholas More/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Macro category winner: Goby Goodness by Hannes Klostermann (Germany) in Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. A goby among coral. (Photo by Hannes Klostermann/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Macro category runner-up: Eyes by Keigo Kawamura (Japan) taken at Izu Oceanic Park in Japan. The unicorn shrimp usually lives about 200 to 300 metres deep, but they rise to about 40 metres due to breeding behaviour. (Photo by Keigo Kawamura/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Macro category 3rd: Favorinus Pigging Out by Jack Israel (USA) in Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. Three favorinus (sea slugs) feeding on egg ribbons. (Photo by Jack Israel/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Behaviour category winner: Octopus Training by Pasquale Vassallo (Italy) in Tyrrhenian Sea, Bacoli, Naples, Italy. An octopus holding a football and being pulled along by the current. (Photo by Pasquale Vassallo/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Behaviour category runner-up: Say Me by Paolo Isgro (Italy) in Ha‘apai, Tonga. A young whale exhaling. (Photo by Paolo Isgro/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Behaviour category 3rd: The Birth by Filippo Borghi (Italy) in the Mediterranean sea, Italy. A Mediterranean catshark hatching from its egg. (Photo by Filippo Borghi/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Portrait category runner-up: Angry Seahorse by Rooman Luc (Belgium) in Eastern Scheldt, Netherlands. (Photo by Rooman Luc/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Black-and-white category winner: Layered Thoughts by Mok Wai Hoe (Singapore) in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (Photo by Mok Wai Hoe/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Black-and-white category runner-up: Constellation of Eagle Rays by Henley Spiers (UK) in Como Cocoa, South Malé Atoll, Maldives. A school of spotted eagle rays. (Photo by Henley Spiers/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Compact category winner: Uluna Lily by Man B.D. (Malaysia) in Uluna Lake, Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Uluna Lake in North Sulawesi, located 670 metres above sea level, is famous for its water lilies, which only bloom in the morning. (Photo by Man B.D./Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Compact category runner-up: Squid in Disco Fever by Enrico Somogyi (Germany) in Anilao, Philippines. A reef squid at night. (Photo by Enrico Somogyi/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Up-and-coming underwater photographer of the year 2020 and up-and-coming category winner: Shark Nursery by Anita Kainrath (Austria) in Eleuthera, Bahamas. The Bahamas have been a shark sanctuary since 2011 but mangroves aren’t protected yet and that’s where these lemon shark pups spend the first five to eight years of their lives. (Photo by Anita Kainrath/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

Most promising British underwater photographer 2020 and up-and-coming category runner-up: Commotion in the Ocean by Nur Tucker (UK) in Dumaguete, Philippines. A thorny sea horse, merged with an image of a shiny scouring pad. (Photo by Nur Tucker/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters wide angle category winner: Jewel Reef by Arthur Kingdon (UK) in Isles of Scilly, Cornwall. (Photo by Arthur Kingdon/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters wide angle category runner-up: Big Mouth, Small Prey by Will Clark (UK) near Isle of Coll, Scotland. Basking sharks offer no threat to humans – their food is mostly animal plankton funnelled through their enormous mouths and strained through specialised gill structures. (Photo by Will Clark/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters wide angle category 3rd: Fireworks Anemone Sunburst by Trevor Rees (UK) in Loch Duich, Scotland. This fireworks anemone (Pachycerianthus multiplicatus) was photographed at the head of Loch Duich at a depth of 15 meters in dark and peat-stained water. (Photo by Trevor Rees/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters macro category winner: Like Water for Silk by Laura Storm (UK) in an urban wildlife pond, Surrey. A common frog. This froglet is less than 1cm long and is so light it can balance on single strands of Spirogyra algae. (Photo by Laura Storm/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters macro category 3rd: Elegant Elegans by Dan Bolt (UK) in Beacon Cove, south Devon. This gorgeous nudibranch (Okenia elegans) is considered to be a rare species in the UK, but can be quite common around Torbay. (Photo by Dan Bolt/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters compact category runner-up: Fluo Fireworks Anemone by James Lynott (UK) at Loch Fyne, Scotland. There were dozens of fireworks anemones at this site, all with varying patterns on their tentacles, which translate to different fluorescence patterns when viewed under blue light. (Photo by James Lynott/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters living together category winner: Pier Nursery by Dan Bolt (UK) at Paignton pier, south Devon. The legs of Paignton pier are home to many sponges, anemones and molluscs, while in the summer months hundreds of juvenile fish use the structure as shelter from larger predators. (Photo by Dan Bolt/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)

British waters living together category runner-up: Cone Home by Kirsty Andrews (UK) in Loch Fyne, Inveraray, Scotland. A common lobster (Homarus gammarus) using a traffic cone as a handy vantage point to overlook the seabed as well as a shelter on an otherwise relatively flat surface. (Photo by Kirsty Andrews/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2020)