Caretta caretta Turtle: Winner, Marine Conservation and "Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year 2019." Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) spend much of their life in the open ocean. They come to the Canary Islands after crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Caribbean beaches. In this years-long trip, they often have to avoid many dangerous traps: plastic, ropes, fishing nets. This turtle got trapped in a net, and found it practically impossible to escape ... but this day it was very lucky, and thanks to the help of two underwater photographers who were sailing nearby, it was able to escape. #

My Place Under the Boat: Runner-Up, Up and Coming. This shot was taken in a remote bay of Solta Island, during a year sailing in Croatia. I was aiming to capture just my girlfriend's silhouette surrounded by the beautiful radiant-blue background. It took a few attempts before her legs, arms, and hair were in perfect composition. It was far more difficult for my girlfriend to sit under the boat and pose without any additional weights than it was for me to take the shot. #

Into the Spotlight: Highly Commended, Macro. Romblon, located in the Philippines, is the home of some unique sea slugs. The first time I saw a picture of this Cyerce nigra on social media, I immediately knew where our next diving destination would be. In Romblon, it was a challenge to get this really, really small sea slug in a photo in a special way. Contrary to most of the Nudibranchia, for its size, this sea slug moves really fast, fluttering its cerata like the wings of a butterfly. #

Tiger Wave: Third Place, Macro. The face of a tiger cardinalfish, open-mouthed, with sharp teeth protruding and eggs within, is captured in a wave of blue. Cardinalfish are famous mouth-brooders, with the males responsible for guarding the eggs until they are ready to hatch. I have long been fascinated by this behavior and spent three dives with this particular fish, slowly earning sufficient trust to allow me the intimacy to capture this image in close confines. #

Between Two Worlds: Winner, Black and White. Ten meters down, I found myself hovering between two worlds. Below, an enormous school of fish covered the bottom as far as I could see. Above, a single cormorant patrolled the surface, catching its breath and peering down at a potential underwater feast. The cormorant, better designed for swimming than flying, would dive down at speed, aggressively pursuing the fish. The school would move in unison to escape the bird’s sharp beak, making it difficult to isolate a single target. More often than not, the bird returned to the surface empty handed, and peace would momentarily be restored. I would squint up at the sunny surface, trying to keep track of the predator and anticipate the next underwater raid. This image captures the hostile, black silhouette of the cormorant as it dives down into its prey, who for a brief moment remain unaware of the danger above. #

Shark Classroom: Highly Commended, Marine Conservation. I was on an assignment for the Save Our Seas Foundation to provide coverage of the numerous research, educational, and public-outreach works at the Bimini Shark Lab of Dr. Samuel Gruber. One day a nonprofit organization, Shark4Kids, came to work with the shark lab on an educational program for a group of high-school students in the mangrove forest of Bimini, so I tagged along and took this photo. #

Ghost Ferry: Highly Commended, Wrecks. The James W. Curran and John McPhail were car ferries that sank 210 feet (64 meters) while being towed to Kingston, Ontario. They couldn't handle the strain of a storm, and even today they are still attached by a long towline. The Curran is turtled and the McPhail is upright on the bottom. #

The Gauntlet: Winner, Behavior, British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019, and Underwater Photographer of the Year 2019. As the sun set on Fakarava South Pass, the estimated 700 sharks that were patrolling the mouth of the channel by day began to hunt at night. The gauntlet was about to unfold. Descending into the darkness, I can feel my heart beating a little faster than normal as hundreds of sharks now cover the bottom. This unlucky parrotfish dodged in and out of the patch-coral heads looking for somewhere to hide as swarms of sharks followed in hot pursuit. One gray reef shark suddenly grabbed the parrotfish by its head as another twisted underneath it to get a better grip. In desperation it hurtled straight toward me as I snapped a few passing shots and curled up into a ball as the frenzy of sharks shot past, leaving only a few falling parrotfish scales behind. #

Jump!: Commended, Up and Coming. Some of Milos’s most beautiful beaches are only accessible by boat, which can be a rather photogenic subject itself. When we stopped on the beautiful white-sculpted-rock formations of Gerontas, I took my camera fitted with my widest lens and applied some dishwashing detergent on the dome (it helps avoid the formation of droplets when out of the water, and I had not packed baby shampoo, my tool of choice). Most people headed for some jumps from the rocks, but I went on a hunt for some over/under shots of caves and rock formations. I saw a good photo-op of the divers with the sailboat in frame, while the position of the sun made for a nice silhouette shot. #

Oh No, Godzilla: Runner-Up, Portrait. The Galapagos Islands are the only place on the planet that you can see marine iguanas in their natural habitat. This photo looks like the fictional character Godzilla, smiling before starting some mischief. #

The Heat Run: Runner-Up, Behavior. The heat run is the ultimate wildlife encounter. With multiple whales competing for a female, the chase can last for hours or even days. Often, many dolphin species are found moving with the humpback groups. It is truly one of nature’s great events, and is truly heart-thumping and adrenaline-pumping action to be a part of. On this day, we jumped in with this group of 16 whales and 50 dolphins moving at high speed. Trying to position ourselves in the right place was challenging to say the least. After 25 or more drops in the water, I was exhausted, but had managed to capture something amazing, and that not many people have experienced. #

Beauty in the Mud: Winner, British Waters Macro. Easter 2018 found me diving in Loch Duich, on the west coast of Scotland. My target subject was the fireworks anemone, which are found on the muddy seabed toward the head of the loch. However, while searching for these, I spotted a length of plastic pipe lying partially buried in the mud. Moving cautiously to avoid stirring up the silt, I reached the open end and was delighted to find this collection of marine life. A long-clawed squat lobster posed proudly outside his man-made home, which he shared with numerous brittlestars, while dainty sea loch anemones decorated the entrance. #

Grey Seal Face: Highly Commended, British Waters Wide Angle. For many years, grey seals have been hunted by humans for their fur and fat, particularly in the 19th century, and have thus disappeared from many areas of their normal range. They are currently protected by some national and international regulations, but continue to suffer from unintentional catches, poaching (gunfire), and pollution (due to their position at the top of the food chain, they often eat organisms loaded with marine pollutants). In the Farne Islands, they are now protected, and large colonies cohabit with humans, having become one of the tourist interests of this region. #

The Mysterious: Commended, Portrait. The moray eel is often an ignored subject in underwater photography because it is a common critter. However, its mysterious character amazes me when I take photos of it. This is the image I shot with two snoots on both sides of the moray eel, to create a strong shadow on the face. #

Crab Catcher: Highly Commended, Black and White. The porcelain crab is a common but charismatic critter that lives in a symbiotic relationship with its host anemone. It waves its fanlike setae to catch food in the current. The lighting here is a single strobe positioned behind the anemone skirt, to backlight the crab in the act of catching its food in a raging current. #

Morning Tide Mackerel: Winner, British Waters Living Together. This huge shoal of mackerel forgot to check the tide timetable! Caught out by the spring low tide in St. Ives Harbor, hundreds of mackerel found themselves stuck for a few hours until the tide came back in. I'd been out for a swim, testing my new weight belt with my camera, when I came upon this unusual event. The local fishermen told me it very rarely happens, so I slowly immersed myself into the pool to capture the spectacle. I sat very still, not wanting to panic the fish; after just a few minutes, they were swimming all around me. I wanted to capture the public watching from above along with what was happening below. Luckily, I had my wide-angle lens to get the composition I wanted to achieve. #

Beacon Cove Cuttlefish: Commended, British Waters Compact. This shot was taken during a night dive at Beacon Cove, in Torquay. I was diving at night in the hopes of trying to get some photos of squid and the tiny cuttlefish that were around at the time. I was amazed to see how much they had grown from the previous dive only a week or so before. Subjects tend to be much more approachable in the dark, so I was able to get pretty close as we observed each other, and I ended up getting quite a few really nice photos. #

Curious Crabeater: Runner-Up, Wide Angle. As a biologist, I have been working with seals for many years and traveling to the Antarctic since 2009. This is a photo from one of my favorite encounters. It was captured on a snowy, dramatic day; the sky could not have been more perfect. We were in a spot known as the "iceberg graveyard" on the Antarctic peninsula, where massive ice giants come to rest on a rocky bottom. There was a group of eight crabeater seals cavorting around the bergs, and they spent the better part of an hour spy-hopping, splashing, and circling around us. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have had with this species. #

Urban Trout: Highly Commended, Black and White. This is a very urban trout. It lives in an urban runoff tube under a very busy motorway in Helsinki, Finland. The fish were born the same spring. I waited for the newborn trout to grow in size but not become too big, because they become better swimmers quickly and thus impossible to photograph. I got my wife to volunteer as a model. She had to endure a mild odor and dropping spiders, but she is a good sport! #

Red Knight: Highly Commended, Up and Coming. I have always been fascinated by sea horses and wanted to photograph them. Finally, on a trip to Lembeh, Indonesia, I had my chance. In my head I always had the idea of a backlit profile shot. But I wanted it to be different, so I played around with homemade filters to fit my Retra LSD snoot and took them with me to Lembeh. When I first saw this sea horse, I knew this was my chance. I immediately decided on the red filter and set up the snoot behind the sea horse. As soon as I took the first shot, I knew this was it. I loved the outlined profile with the subtle detail of its body and almost translucent snout. #

The Fall: Highly Commended, Up and Coming. Because I live in Belgium and the water temperature is not always pleasant in a 3mm wetsuit, I decided to ask a few female friends to act as models; they were kind enough to spend a few hours of their time in a pool. This started as a way to practice underwater photography, and I just got hooked on this new line of underwater photography (new to me, I mean). I usually take pictures of fish. For The Fall, we wanted to generate movement through the water's surface. We used fabric to create more volume underwater, and the bubbles demonstrate the movement under the water-surface reflection. For me, it works; thanks a lot to Melanie for working as a patient model. #

Playful Calf: Highly Commended, Portrait. Photographing marine wildlife means you need to know and understand animal behavior in order to act in the right way to be accepted and approached as closely as possible without causing a disturbance. During a trip to the Tonga Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, we interacted with a female humpback whale and her calf, which offered us a unique show. The curiosity of this big baby had no limit as it investigated as closely as possible a strange species called "human." #

New Life: Highly Commended, Behavior. This photo was taken in Minamata, Kumamoto, in Japan. This species of sea horse was not officially named until 2017. To avoid natural enemies and to improve the survival rate of its babies, the sea horses in Minamata generally climb to the upper part of the seaweed between 2 and 6 a.m. to give birth. Minamata City is famous for Minamata disease (a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning). I call this photo New Life. It’s new life not only for sea horses, but also for Minamata. Over the years, with the government's efforts, mercury pollution has been fully addressed, and Minamata Bay is now back to life. I spent three weeks in Minamata City to take this picture: three dives every day, from 1 to 7 a.m. Maybe it was the hardest dive of my career, but it was also the most enjoyable, because of the wonderful subject and the meaning behind the photo. #

Reflection of a Juvenile Platax Tera on a Leaf: Highly Commended, Compact. Many times a year in Noumea (New Caledonia), where I live, strong winds, heavy rains, and high tides introduce into the bays numerous green waste (flowers, leaves, pieces of wood), as well as nongreen waste (plastic, bottles, ropes). Many juveniles use them to hide from predators. #