Best Underwater Photos of 2026 Capture Life Beneath the Waves
A full-on underwater award season just dropped, and it’s packed with images that look like they were stolen from a dream.
But the real drama is how wildly different the ocean can look depending on who is behind the lens and what they’re chasing. Steven Kovacs’ Screaming Swallower, Merche Llobera’s White Spirits, and Anton Sorokin’s Egg Clutcher all show life doing its own weird thing, while the wide-angle winners and wreck shots, like Happy Baby by Cecile Gabillon Barats and Living Wreck by Jean-Baptiste Cazajous, turn calm water into something cinematic. Even the smartphone picks, like The Roar by Jack Ho, prove you do not need a fancy rig to catch a moment that hits hard.
By the time you reach the conservation nod, Rescued And Rehabilitated At Cestha by Ilaria Mariaguilia Rizzuto, you’ll realize this wasn’t just a photo contest, it was a full underwater storybook with teeth.
Portrait, Category Winner And Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2026: Rockpool Rookies By Matty Smith
Portrait, Runner Up: Screaming Swallower By Steven Kovacs
Portrait, 3rd Place: White Spirits By Merche Llobera
Behaviour, 3rd Place: Egg Clutcher By Anton Sorokin
Coral Reefs, Category Winner: Underwater Meteor Shower By Dr. Tom Shlesinger
Coral Reefs, 3rd Place: Veiled In Vibrance By Neil Rosewarn
Behaviour, Runner Up: Together We Can! By Ventura Romero
Wide Angle, Winner: Happy Baby By Cecile Gabillon Barats
British Waters Macro, Category Winner: Mum By Tom Ingram
Compact, Category Winner: Alpine Lookout By Andrea Michelutti
Compact, 3rd Place: Natural Barriers By Rémi Conte\
Macro, Runner Up: Jaws By Fabian Becker
Smartphone, Category Winner: The Roar By Jack Ho
Up & Coming, Category Winner And Up & Coming Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2026: Lunging Leopard By Sam Blount
Coral Reefs, Runner Up: Sunset Patrol By Renee Capozzola
Macro, Category Winner: Calm At The Heart Of Turmoil By Seongcheol Cho
Macro, 3rd Place: Simon Theuma
Wide Angle, Runner Up: Chamber Of Life By Jinny Kim
British Waters Wide Angle, Category Winner: A Meeting Of Giants By Evan Johnston
British Waters Wide Angle, Runner Up: Dusk Encounter By Kirsty Andrews
Black & White, Category Winner: Coral Window By Shunsuke Nakano
Behaviour, Category Winner: Clownfish Hatchout By Kazushige Horiguchi
Wrecks, Runner Up: Living Wreck By Jean-Baptiste Cazajous
'save Our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation, 3rd Place: Rescued And Rehabilitated At Cestha By Ilaria Mariaguilia Rizzuto
British Waters Macro, 3rd Place: New Life By Dan Bolt
British Waters Wide Angle, 3rd Place: Hold On Tight! By Billy Arthur
Smartphone, 3rd Place: Intertidal World By Martin Stevens
Compact, Runner Up: Veins Of The Earth By Manuel Wüthrich
Up & Coming, Runner Up: Dancing With Light By Khaichuin Sim
Wrecks, 3rd Place: Silent Heart By Atsushi Hori
Up & Coming, Category Highly Commended And Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2026: Crowded House By Natalie Yarrow
'save Our Seas Foundation' Marine Conservation, Runner Up: Get Me Outta Here! By Ross Makulec
British Waters Macro, Runner Up: Riding The Storm By Sandra Stalker
Black & White, 3rd Place: Power And Pace By David Alpert
Smartphone, Runner Up: The Curious Gaze Of Grey Shark By Clotxa
Up & Coming, 3rd Place: Shared Time By Jinny Kim
Wrecs, Category Winner: The Guns Of The Nagato By Niclas Andersson
Wide Angle, 3rd Place: Halocline By Alex Dawson
Black & White, Runner Up: Silver-Tone Seductress By John Pfisterer
Matty Smith’s Rockpool Rookies sets the tone, but then Steven Kovacs’ Screaming Swallower comes in like a plot twist you did not ask for.
Once you jump from Anton Sorokin’s Egg Clutcher to Dr. Tom Shlesinger’s Underwater Meteor Shower, the ocean stops being “pretty” and starts being chaotic.
The vibe flips again when Cecile Gabillon Barats wins Wide Angle with Happy Baby, and then Jean-Baptiste Cazajous follows up with Living Wreck like the sea has a memory problem.
Right when you think it’s all about spectacle, Ilaria Mariaguilia Rizzuto’s Rescued And Rehabilitated At Cestha makes the whole roundup feel personal.
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 once again shows how much beauty exists beneath the surface of our planet. From playful elephant seal pups in the Falkland Islands to dramatic scenes captured across oceans and lakes, this year’s winning images highlight both creativity and patience behind the camera.
The competition continues to bring attention to the hidden world underwater and the photographers dedicated to revealing it.
This year’s winners do not just show what’s underwater, they show what it costs to keep it alive.
Want more underwater winners? See how the 2026 British Wildlife Photography Awards picked Rockpool Rookies’ peers.
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