The finalists for the 2024 Ocean Photographer of the Year contest have been revealed.
The world’s finest coastal, drone, surf and underwater photographers have once again combined their incredible talents to bring our beautiful ocean planet to life, as well as highlight the many perils it faces.
This week, 105 ocean images, chosen from more than 15,000 submissions, were revealed.
This year’s photographs include:
- Dramatic wildlife encounters, such as a baitball being devoured from air and sea, out-of-place eels slithering over rocks at low tide, and an iridescent mahi mahi caught with a mouthful;
- Beautiful examples of the human species’ connection with the ocean, from a boat crew hauling an impossibly large net out of the water, conservationists tending to coral nurseries, and a freediver on their way into the depths of a blue hole; and
- Stark reminders of our impact on the ocean, including an octopus sheltering in a plastic bag, a fin whale being hauled ashore for butchering, and a gannet accidentally hanged after its unnatural nest became a noose.
Category winners, the recipient of the Female Fifty Fathoms Award and the yet-to-be-shared overall winner, the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024, will be announced on September 12th.
The Ocean Photographer of the Year contest, presented by Oceanographic Magazine and Blancpain, has a simple mission: to shine a light on the wonder and fragility of our blue planet, and to celebrate the photographers giving it a voice.
The first Ocean Photographer of the Year 2024 exhibition will open at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney on November 28th, followed by several additional venues in early 2025.
You can check out the previous years’ winners gallery at oceanographicmagazine.com.
(Featured image credits, clockwise from left: Merche Llobera, Zhang Xiang, Rafael Fernandez Caballero, Sébastien Bachellereau and Shane Gross)
