15 breathtaking images from the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 awards
A playful sea lion. An elegant shark. And a few thirsty camels. The post 15 breathtaking images from the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 awards appeared first on Popular Science.
Dog boops. Cat boops. Sea lion boops? You bet.
A young South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) approaches divers off the coast of the West Falkland Islands, curious about the the human visitors. He playfully pokes and boops the divers, one of whom is photographer Patrick Webster of the US. During an hour of observing the rambunctious and curious creature, Webster snapped an image (seen above) perfectly capturing the encounter.
“Initially intrigued by this vibrant sea forest tucked away off the West Falkland archipelago, my dive buddies and I quickly found ourselves the center of a passing pride’s attention,” Webster explains. “An exuberant young male, with small scars of missing whiskers, looking so much like adolescent acne, on his face-forward personality, began his investigation slowly. Then suddenly was right in our faces, poking, prodding and jawing his way into figuring out what exactly was this bubbly beast barking in his backyard.”
Webster’s image, titled “A Frondly Snoot Boop”, took home third place in the Portrait category in the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 awards.
Category WINNER, Wide Angle
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025
“A mother humpback whale accompanies her calf to the surface for its first breath early in the morning. The youngster is releasing a few bubbles as it rises, perhaps this is because it is still learning to control its breathing, or it is simply experimenting with its own body. Every year, during the southern winter, I travel to French Polynesia to photograph these majestic animals. My favourite time of day is the early morning, because the light is soft and angled, allowing me to find the perfect angle to clearly define the shape of these animals in blue. For me, this photo is one that shows a mother’s love for her calf, communicating both the fragility and beauty of our oceans, and revealing one of the amazing species with whom we share our home world.”
Credit: Alvaro Herrero (Mekan)/UPY 2025
Spanish photographer Alvaro Herrero was named the overall winner for his compelling photograph (seen above) of a mother humpback whale and her new-born calf. “Radiant Bond” beat out more than 6,500 entries from photographers around the globe to nab the top prize.
“This delicate yet powerful study of a mother and calf’s bond says all that is great and good about our world,” judge and accomplished underwater photographer Peter Rowlands said of Herrero’s photo. “We face our challenges, but the increasing populations of humpback whales worldwide shows what can be achieved.”
The Underwater Photographer of the Year awards honor photographers across 13 categories, including Portrait, Behavior, Coral Reefs, and Macro. Visit Underwater Photographer of the Year for the full list of winners.
WINNER, Portrait
“I had the idea of photographing the camels drinking water for about one and half a years. I wanted to photograph them drinking water from the underwater perspective because I did not see any images showing this. The weather was a critical, and it took me several weeks to get the best possible shots. The first week the camels were a bit hesitant to drink water while my camera was under the water and only few gathered to drink, which is not what i wanted. But after several days the camels had already accepted to me and my equipment. After my first week of shooting the Camels, I changed to electronic synch cords for my strobes instead of fibre-optic cables because of problems. And finally the shots came together.”
Credit: Abdulaziz Al Saleh/UPY 2025 
RUNNER UP, Compact
“When I was diving in Anilao, in the Philippines, we found this beautiful giant frogfish at a depth of around 15m. I tried to get a picture with a coloured backlight, and a background of small fish and the sun. After a couple of frames I got this picture and was very happy.”
Credit: Enrico Somogyi/UPY 2025 
RUNNER UP, Behavior
“November-December at Magdalena Bay in Baja California, are the best months to try and gets good encounters with blue marlin. However, getting strong images of these fish in wild life is very difficult because they attack the sardines and mackerels and very high speed, making it extremely difficult to capture this behaviour in a photo.”
Credit: Eduardo Acevedo/UPY 2025 
WINNER, Black & White
“This image was captured in the northern Red Sea during a freediving expedition in search of bottlenose dolphins. The moment portrays an intimate mating ritual, where several males—four visible in the picture, though others were nearby—were playfully chasing a female. It was a dynamic and ritualistic display, with the males engaging in friendly skirmishes and occasionally mating with the female, their bodies joining briefly for just a few seconds. Notably, the female was not attempting to escape; she actively participated, playing along and waiting for them. The entire group swam gracefully and at a slow, deliberate pace, creating a mesmerizing underwater scene.”
Credit: Enric Gener/UPY 2025 
RUNNER UP, Coral Reefs
“Filling my frame with purple sea fans and porous sea rod, I settled low on the seabed, concealing myself and my camera as much as possible in the hope of a close pass from the circling Caribbean reef shark. Hunkered down, I waited for the perfect moment. Finally, this creature elegantly swam into my frame, its shiver visible in the background, adding dramatic depth to my image. Jardines de la Reina has been a successfully protected national marine park since 1996. Today fishing and visitor numbers are restricted and its ninety mile long archipelago of reefs are renowned for pristine corals and flourishing marine life. Caribbean reef sharks can grow up to three meters long and are one of the largest apex predators in the reef ecosystem.”
Credit: Jenny Stock/UPY 2025 
WINNER, British Waters Macro
“Occasionally in my time under the water I have come across this medusa ‘Neoturris pileata’ in the open water but had not taken a decent photo of one. On this occasion however, my buddy and I were specifically targeting them and other similar creatures to try to explore the idea of UK ‘blackwater’ photographic opportunities. Of the many, many(!), images I took that day, this one revealed a larval crustacean within the bell of this medusa. The frames either side of this capture actually show that the larval crab (or lobster) is actually on the outside of the bell, but in this instant it was perfectly on the opposite side from me and hence the effect of being contained within the transparent body.”
Credit: Dan Bolt/UPY 2025 Dan Bolt
THIRD PLACE, Wrecks
“Wreck diving is one of the top things to do in Kas, Türkiye. This is the wreck of Sahil Guvenlik SG115 a former coast guard boat that was sunk at an appropriate depth for recreational divers – a maximum depth of 35m. It is a beautiful wreck close to town, one I highly recommend!”
Credit: Alex Dawson/UPY 2025 Alex Dawson Photography
WINNER, Behavior
“This is a photo of two male Asian sheepshead wrasse fighting. The unique form of this species is characteristic of males, who form harems and claim territories during the breeding season. The one on the left in the photo is the harem king, who has defended his territory for more than 10 years and is estimated to be over 30 years old, while the one on the right is a young challenger. Although I had planned carefully to capture the images, the 2024 season was more difficult to predict than usual, and despite staying there for a week during the breeding season, I was only able to observe this scene once, for just 10 seconds. And this was the only photograph I was able to take. The sight of them fighting in their flashy white outfits was so magnificent I can still remember it vividly.”
Credit: Shunsuke Nakano/UPY 2025 
Third Place, Up and Coming
“This was my first time taking a camera underwater, and was nervous but excited. My goal was to get a tiny nudibranch in focus, and with the support of my husband, Adam Martin, and our amazing guides, I quickly fell in love with macro photography. The excitement of getting a ‘good’ image was challenging and exhilarating. After photographing a few other Shaun the Sheep nudibranchs and others, I decided to step up the challenge by adding the SMC lens. By the fifth dive, I finally spotted this perfect little creature. With a deep breath and a lot of patience, I took multiple shots, hoping to capture its beauty. The experience was incredibly rewarding, sparking my passion for underwater macro photography. It’s a journey that taught me persistence and patience, and I’m thrilled to have captured something I can truly be proud of.”
Credit: Autumn Martin/UPY 2025 
RUNNER UP, Portrait
“Amazon river dolphin silhouette Manaus, Brazil, 2023 This beautiful boto made for a fantastic model – even more so with sunlight piercing through the forest canopy above it. The water of Rio Negro is Coca-Cola coloured, something that was very noticeable in every single underwater frame during a two-week trip. Botos are the largest of the river dolphins, with adult males reaching up to 2.5 metres in length and weighing up to 185 kilos! Males measure 16% longer than females and weigh 55% more than them. Botos are ranked “endangered” by the IUCN. Threats to them include climate change and getting caught in nets.”
Credit: Hussain Aga Khan/UPY 2025 
THIRD PLACE, Behavior
“Trout and salmon interact with each other in the Austrian mountain lake. It was interesting to see two different types of fish interacting with each other. The picture was taken in the lake Grüblsee, Austria, located at an altitude of 1160 meters.”
Credit: Lorincz Ferenc Lorinc/UPY 2025 
WINNER, Wrecks
“The wreck sits on the reef at around 104m depth. When she sank she got wedged between the reef wall and a small reef so there is a swim through under the wreck. We did 25 min bottom time and about 2 1/2 hours of deco to produce this image.”
Credit: Alex Dawson/UPY 2025 
RUNNER UP, British Waters Macro
Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2025
“This image was taken on a wonderful night dive at Inveraray, Loch Fyne. This site is known for being home to many beautiful fireworks anemones at shallow depths, but it also has an old pipe covered in concrete blocks which is home to lots of life, including the spiny squat lobster. These squat lobsters are usually found clinging upside down on boulders/overhangs and disappear the instant the camera shutter is pressed. However, on this night dive they were wondering about in the open and didn’t seem to mind having a few pictures taken. These squat lobsters show the brightest fluorescence I have seen in crustaceans and I was really pleased on this dive to be able to capture the whole animal in frame. I used excitation filters on my strobes, along with a yellow barrier filter in front of the lens to capture the fluorescence.”
Credit: James Lynott/UPY 2025
The post 15 breathtaking images from the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 awards appeared first on Popular Science.
