Striking Shots: Winning Photos Reveal Amazing Life Underwater
Got It!
A sea turtle in an ocean wildlife rehabilitation facility in Australia reaches out for a squid snack in this photograph by Christian Miller.
"I wanted to document and tell a story about the individual turtles and add some real drama to it," Miller wrote in a description accompanying the photograph, which won first prize in the pool/conceptual category of this year's Ocean Art Competition. Miller added drama by enhancing the colors and color contrast and by adding blurring effects to the background of the shot.
[Read more about the ocean photography winners]
Looking
Two roosterfish (Nematistius pectoralis) feed on a bit of jellyfish found on a marine drift line off Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
"Being able to capture this photograph made me very excited," wrote Joaquin Guierrez, who won first place in the portrait category of the Ocean Art Competition for this shot.
Sun Star
The first prize in the Reefscape category of the 2016 Ocean Art Competition went to Sangkeun Jeong for this shot of a sprawled-out sea star under the diffuse rays of the sun. Jeong capture the image in Lembeh, Indonesia.
Under My Wing
Red Irish Lords are good fathers. Males of this fish species guard their egg masses carefully, fanning them with their fins to keep the eggs oxygenated. Photographer Chad Tamis got this detailed shot of the developing offspring in their eggs, shielded by their father's fin.
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"The low aperture needed to shoot the depth of field I wanted with the wet lens definitely made this a challenge but fortunately after a couple shots I got what I wanted and the male shuffled over," Tamis wrote in his description of the photograph. "With a nod to the father to be I left him to care to his young while I retreated to the surface."
The photograph won the 2016 Ocean Art contest's top prize for supermacro shots.
[Read more about the ocean photography winners]
Amazing Squid
Photographer Dennis Corpuz spotted this Bobtail squid (Sepiolida) hovering just above the ocean bottom in Anilao, Philippines. It flared open its tentacles for just a few seconds as Corpuz snapped some shots. This one brought him first prize in the macro category of the 2016 Ocean Art Competition.
Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.