All articles tagged with #underwater photography
An underwater camera off the South Shetland Islands captured the first footage of a sleeper shark in Antarctic waters at about 1,608 feet depth, suggesting the species ranges farther south than previously known; researchers from Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre note that ocean warming could be expanding its habitat.
Guardian’s photo gallery spotlights the 2026 Close-up Photographer of the Year Awards, celebrating macro and micro imagery from around the world. The overall winner is Fractal Forest, showing the inside of a cauliflower soft coral in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, by Ross Gudgeon, with standout entries across categories such as Intimate Landscape, Ethereal Frogfish, Cribraria Cluster, and Invertebrate Portrait.
A rare underwater photograph of a Ross seal, one of the least studied Antarctic marine mammals, was captured by Justin Hofman during an expedition, providing new insights into the species' behavior and anatomy in its natural habitat for the first time.
An Australian underwater photographer had a shocking encounter when a large stingray swam unexpectedly close during a rough night dive to photograph weedy seadragons, capturing a memorable and surprising wildlife moment.
Scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition have photographed over 100 never-before-seen deep-sea species, including a Chaunax fish and a whiplash squid, during an exploration of underwater mountain ranges off the coast of Chile. The discoveries also include deep-sea corals, glass sponges, sea urchins, amphipods, and squat lobsters, as well as the identification of four new seamounts. The findings highlight the effectiveness of marine parks in protecting delicate marine habitats, and the researchers will now begin studying and identifying the newfound species, a process that could take several years.
The 2024 winners of the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition have been announced, featuring eerie underwater scenes of shipwrecks, rusted tanks, and a sunken passenger plane. The "wrecks" category showcases sunken ships, tanks, a plane, and a helicopter, with images capturing military cargo, ship's wheels, and passenger airline seats eerily intact in their watery resting places. Notable shots include a diver among a graveyard of whale skeletons, sunken Chieftain tanks in a tactical battle formation, and the well-preserved 19th-century wooden schooner Kyle Spangler at the bottom of Lake Huron.
An eerie photograph capturing whale skeletons lying in shallow waters off Greenland has won the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024 competition. The image, titled "Whale Bones," depicts the remains of minke whales that were hunted by local hunters in Greenland and then dragged back into the sea after being stripped of their skin, blubber, and meat. The photograph serves as a poignant reminder of human impact on marine life. Other winning images from the competition include underwater scenes featuring tanks, lemon sharks, brittlestars, a gray whale eye, and a crab-eating macaque.
Alex Dawson wins Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024 for his image of a free diver amidst whale bones, while Jenny Stock is named British Underwater Photographer of the Year for her photo of a sea urchin and brittle stars. Other winners include Rafael Fernandez Caballero for Behavior and Portrait, Lisa Stengel for Up & Coming, Nuno Sá for Marine Conservation, Talia Greis for Macro, and Martin Broen for Wrecks. Various categories such as Black & White, British Waters, and Compact also saw winners capturing stunning underwater moments.
The Ocean Photography Awards 2023 winners have been announced, showcasing breathtaking images of marine life and highlighting environmental issues. The overall winner, Jialing Cai, captured a female paper nautilus in the aftermath of the Taal Volcano eruption in the Philippines. Other winning photographs include a portrait of a green sea turtle in Maui, a scene from the Arctic landscape of Svalbard, a dynamic shot of gentoo penguins in Paradise Bay, and a humpback whale breaching in the Pacific Ocean. The exhibition of these stunning photographs is currently being held at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Researchers have identified a unique sea creature captured in underwater photographs taken in 2018 off the coast of Okinawa. The creature is actually two types of parasitic larvae worms, dubbed "sailors" and "passengers," that form a colonial organism. The sailors use their bodies like appendages, moving in unison to swim and navigate the water. The discovery sheds light on the cooperative behavior of these tiny organisms.