Sea life: See the natural world below the surface with the Underwater Photography Awards 2021
- Published
This photograph of blacktip reef sharks cruising beneath sea gulls at sunset in French Polynesia saw Renee Capozzola from the United States named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2021. Renee's photograph beat over 4500 underwater pictures entered by photographers from 68 countries. "French Polynesia strongly protects its sharks, it is my favourite place to photograph them,鈥 she explained, 鈥淚 dedicated several evenings to photographing in the shallows at sunset, and I was finally rewarded with this scene: glass-calm water, a rich sunset, sharks and even birds.鈥
This photo of a striped marlin hunting small fish in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico won the Behaviour category of the competition. Marlin are one of the fastest fish in the sea and photographer Karim Iliya said: "Watching wild animals hunt is one of the greatest spectacles in nature."
You don't often get a close-up look at a frog underwater. This picture by Mark Kirkland won the prize for British Waters Wide Angle Photo section. It stars a common frog and was taken in Malls Mire - a small woodland in Glasgow, between a housing estate, supermarket and factory. Mark said his final shot came after "25 hours over four nights of lying in darkness, covered in mud, waiting on natures unpredictable elements to align. Time well spent? Absolutely. "
This photo is titled: Sunrise Mute Swan Feeding Underwater. The mute swan was captured on photographer Ian Wade's local lake using a GoPro camera. Ian tied a weight to the camera and threw it into the lake hoping the swans would get curious and might wonder if it was a tasty snack. Then he took photos using the app on his phone. It won the first prize in the British Waters Compact category.
Look at the amazing colours in this one! The photo shows a New Caledonian carp near the surface of the Ouenghi River in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. This photo by Jack Berthomier won in the Compact category.
And this amazing photo by Man BD won the second prize in the same category. Taken in Lemby, Indonesia, it shows a hairy panda goby in a coral reef. "He was very shy so it took a long time for it to be comfortable before it popped it's head out!" Man BD said.
To the Macro category next, and this Pontohi pygmy seahorse is one of the smallest and most recently discovered seahorses. They usually live on reef walls and can be hard to find. This photo by Galice Hoarau was taken in Siladen, Indonesia. Galice said "After setting up the camera... we had to wait for it to get used to us and finally turn toward the camera for a brief moment."
It that a double turtle?! No it's just a reflection. This picture of a hawksbill turtle was taken in Marsa Egla in Egypt by Renata Romeo, it came third in the black and white category.
As the Asian sheepshead wrasse grows older, it changes gender from female to male and at the same time it develops a large lump on its head. This photo by Ryohei Ito was taken in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture in Japan. It won first prize in the Portrait category.
"I took this portrait of a gorgeous French Angelfish whilst scuba diving at the legendary Salt Pier in Bonaire in the Caribbean," said photographer Michael Gallagher. This almost looks like a fishy selfie! It came third in the Portrait category.
This tightly packed island-village off the coast of Panama in Guna Yala region shows how humans consume land and space at a rapid rate. Most of the Guna people living on these densely populated islands find food by catching fish and farming coconuts on nearby islands.
No, I'm not a breadcrumb, don't eat me! This amazing close up shows one of the oceans' biggest birds - the black-browed albatross, which has a wingspan of more than two metres and can live for over 70 years! Taken in the Bay of Fires in Tasmania, Australia, the photographer Danny Lee said: "Whenever I see an albatross I get excited! Their sheer size and beautiful features make them a joy to photograph." This photo came third in the Up and Coming category for new photographers.