Stunning Scenes Dazzle in Underwater Images (Photos)

Dancing Octopus

upy underwater photographer of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Gabriel Barathieu/UPY 2017)

During spring low tides in a lagoon of the Mayotte archipelago near Madagascar, there is very little water on the flats. This picture was taken in water at a depth of about 11 inches (30 centimeters). The photographer used a 14 millimeter, ultra-wide-angle lens and natural light.

[Read more about the underwater photography contest]

Out of the Blue

upy british underwater photographer of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Nick Blake/UPY 2017)

Kukulkan Cenote on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula is noted for spectacular light effects as the sun penetrates the darkness. By playing with the symmetry of the cavern and the natural light show, the photographer captured a stunning image.

Oceanic in the Sky

upy up and coming underwater photographer of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Horacio Martinez/UPY 2017)

An amazing image resulted from the photographer's first Red Sea experience and first photo workshop while living onboard a vessel. On the last dive of the day, the artist ventured deeper in the water, and closer to a group of oceanic whitetip sharks. Thanks to the natural lighting, a dream-like image of a shark in the distance emerged.

Orca Pod

upy most promising british underwater photographer of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Nicholai Georgiou/UPY 2017)

While freediving in Norway during the short winter days, the photographer encountered a pod of orcas that were bathed in light and color from the setting sun.

Lion's mane

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Ron Watkins/UPY 2017)

In Alaska last summer looking for salmon sharks, the photographer came across an enormous moon jellyfish bloom stretching several hundred meters. This image was captured as a lion's mane jellyfish rose to the surface.

[Read more about the underwater photography contest]

Interaction

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Edwar Hereño/UPY 2017)

On an expedition aboard MV ONDINA visiting Indonesian waters, the team went on a dive to the sea mount Karang Paradise, which hosts a rich array of marine biodiversity. The photographer found an enormous coral field with different groups of fish, and set up his camera on a rock to capture the moment when he was surrounded by big-eye jack mackerel.

Prey?

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright So Yat Wai/UPY 2017)

A mantis shrimp larva that caught the photographer's eye during a blackwater dive in Anilao in the Philippines resembles a scene from a science fiction movie. Though very small, the larva is a predator with raptorial appendages that it uses to hunt its even smaller prey.

Graceful ballet

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Jenny Strömvoll/UPY 2017)

This dive site at Mozambique consists of a sea pen forest at a depth of 111.55 feet (34 meters). It hosts a diversity of ocean life, such as shrimps and gobies.

Precontinental dreams

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Andrey Narchuk/UPY 2017)

"Precontinent," a site in waters near Sudan, was an ambitious project conceived in the 1960s by marine biologist Jacques Cousteau, to create an underwater village where people could live. Just a few of the structures remain today, inhabited only by fish.

[Read more about the underwater photography contest]

Your home and my home

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Qing Lin/UPY 2017)

Clownfish live in anemones, but these three clownfish harbored "guests of their own — parasitic isopods living inside the fishes' mouths. The photographer waited three days to take this photo, when all three of the clownfish opened their mouths at once, revealing the isopods lurking inside.

Humpback whale feeding on krill

upy underwater photography of the year

(Image credit: Copyright Jean Tresfon/UPY 2017)

Every summer, hundreds of humpback whales gather off the Cape Town, South Africa coast in a massive feeding aggregation. Working as part of a film crew, the photographer was a rare witness to this phenomenon, capturing one of the whales as it gaped wide to feed.

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