12 award-winning underwater photos give rare glimpses beneath the world's oceans

• The Ocean Photographer of the Year awards announced the winners of its 2024 contest.

• Winners were chosen in categories such as Wildlife, Human Connection, and Ocean Conservation.

• The overall winning image showed a whale about to devour a large ball of fish.

The Ocean Photographer of the Year awards announced the winners of its 2024 contest on Thursday.

Presented by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain Ocean Commitment, the contest highlights the work of underwater photographers to help raise awareness for ocean conservation work and scientific research protecting these delicate ecosystems.

Winning photos were chosen out of 15,000 submissions across eight categories: Young Photographer, Wildlife, Portfolio, Human Connection, Fine Art, Conservation — Impact, Conservation — Hope, and Adventure. The contest also chose a Female Fifty Fathoms Award winner in a special category recognizing the work of female ocean photographers, as well as first, second, and third-place winners of the overall competition.

Take a look at this year's most remarkable works of ocean photography.

Julian Jacobs won first place in the Young Photographer category with a photo of a moray eel.

Jacobs photographed the moray eel in California as the tide receded.

In the Wildlife category, Manuel Castellanos Raboso's photo of a mahi-mahi won first place.

Raboso's image shows a mahi-mahi displaying its catch during a feeding frenzy in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Shane Gross won the Portfolio category with a series of photos highlighting various creatures, including a crested sculpin.

Gross took a photo of a crested sculpin hiding in the tentacles of a lion's mane jellyfish in Alaska.

Zhang Xiang took the top prize in the Human Connection category with a photo of a traditional fisherman in China.

Xiang's photo shows a fisherman walking along the beach at sunset.

Henley Spiers captured Munk's devil rays swirling through the ocean, winning first place in the Fine Art category.

Spiers spotted the rays in Baja California Sur, Mexico, where they were drawn to the green light shining through the water.

Frederik Brogaard captured a sobering image of a whaling plant in Iceland, winning first place in the Conservation — Impact category.

Brogaard's photo shows a fin whale, the second-largest species of whale, awaiting slaughter at a whaling plant.

Gross won again in the Conservation — Hope category with a photo of a green sea turtle in the Seychelles.

Researchers accidentally caught the sea turtle while studying sharks. They measured and tagged the turtle before releasing it back into the wild.

Tobias Friedrich's image of a diver exploring a shipwreck won first place in the Adventure category.

The shipwreck was located in the Bahamas.

The Female Fifty Fathoms Award celebrating women in ocean photography went to Ipah Uid Lynn.

Lynn's award-winning portfolio included this image of a whale shark surrounded by a school of fish in the Maldives.

The contest's overall third-place winner was Thien Nguyen Ngoc with a photo of a fishing boat in Vietnam.

The green fishing nets were visible under the surface of the water off the coast of Hon Yen.

The contest's second-place winner, Jade Hoksbergen, photographed a northern gannet diving through the water in the Shetland Islands.

The northern gannet dove to capture its next meal in waters surrounding the Isle of Noss.

Rafael Fernández Caballero was the competition's overall winner with a photo of a feasting Bryde's whale.

Caballero's photo shows a Bryde's whale about to devour a baitball in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

"The image captures perhaps the most special — and craziest — moment of my life," Caballero said. "It fills me with joy having lived this moment — and to have captured the image."

Caballero added that winning the title of Ocean Photographer of the Year "drives me to keep believing in what I do and to continue showcasing the ocean's wonders."

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