See Nine Stunning Images from This Year's Ocean Photographer of the Year Contest That Show the Majesty of Marine Life

An adult male seahorse gazes at two newly born juveniles in the waters of Moorea, French Polynesia. He appears to bid adieu to the young ones, wishing them the best as they begin to make their way in the world. After seahorses mate, males carry and birth the offspring.

That happens because, following a successful courtship dance, a female places her mature eggs into the male’s brood pouch to get fertilized. The male can release up to 2,000 babies at once, although few will survive to adulthood. It’s unknown whether the seahorses in the photo are related, but the scene suggests a heartfelt farewell between a father and his children.

The striking black-and-white image earned Julien Anton the title of Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026. He is the overall winner of the annual competition presented by Oceanographic magazine and Blancpain that aims to show the beauty of the ocean but also highlight the dangers it faces. A panel of photography experts, museum and gallery curators and editors chooses the winners of the grand award and nine categories.

It is an image that demands reflection, pause for thought, and it certainly got that from us,” says Will Harrison, founder and director of Ocean Photographer of the Year, in a statement. What kind of ocean are we leaving for those who come after us? It is ocean photography at its most powerful: intimate, urgent and impossible to ignore.” Seahorses are now rare in French Polynesia, so the award-winning moment was challenging to capture.

Photographer Mitsuna Kawai earned the top prize in a new category for this snapshot of a slender ribbonfish as it rises amid the dark waters of Osezaki, Japan. Captured during a winter blackwater dive, the silver fish is surrounded by a swarm of salps. They are tiny, jelly-like creatures that feed on particles floating in the water.

But Rui Duarte’s photo also captures how humans can come together to try to save these giant living beings. The image shows people working in harmony to move a stranded short-finned pilot whale in Boa Vista, Cape Verde. In the months after the event, international experts trained locals on safe stranding response techniques for future rescue efforts.