Diminutive Seahorses Top the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year Contest — Colossal
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In recent days, Southern California has faced intensified effects from an offshore hurricane, amplified by king tides, highlighting the tangible impacts of human-driven climate change. Erosion is a natural phenomenon affecting coastlines as waves and winds continually reshape the sand and erode cliffs. Over the past decades, infrastructure and residential developments have altered the natural coastline, necessitating regular sand replenishment on beaches. Despite these efforts, many of the region’s beaches vanished within just a few days.
This situation is a part of a growing number of low-lying areas where warming and rising oceans demonstrate their formidable influence. This is the focus of Oceanographic magazine and Blancpain‘s annual Ocean Photographer of the Year competition, which seeks to showcase some of the most cherished, impressive, and rarely seen aspects of our planet’s vast waters.
Matty Smith, finalist in the Wildlife category. Southern elephant seal pups explore shallow rock pools on Sea Lion Island in the Falkland Islands, testing their first movements in the water after being weaned by their mothers.
This week, the winners of the 2026 competition were announced. Julien Anton received top honors for his black-and-white seahorse portrait featuring two tiny juveniles. British photographer Jenny Stock was awarded the Female Fifty Fathoms Award, recognizing her contributions to expanding the role of women in ocean photography.
Explore more images below, along with additional entries from this year’s competition, and view all the winners in the online gallery.
Jenny Stock, winner of the Female Fifty Fathoms Award. During a dusk dive in a Scottish sea loch, a torch reveals thousands of brittle stars covering the seabed. Gergo Rugli, winner of the Adventure category. Dolphins ride the waves alongside surfers at Tamarama Beach, Sydney, during a powerful swell and offshore winds. Steven Lopez. A close view of a giant black sea bass reveals many parasitic copepods clustered around its eye in a Catalina Island kelp forest, Southern California. Rui Filipe Cardoso Duarte, winner of the Human Connection category. Volunteers, surfers, lifeguards, and conservation groups in Boa Vista, Cape Verde, work together to re-float stranded short-finned pilot whales. Sun Qingsheng, finalist in the Human Connection category. Thousands of fish-farming cages stretch across the sea, connected by floating walkways and small wooden huts to form a vast community in Fujian Province, China. Jenny Stock, winner of the Female Fifty Fathoms Award. In Western Australia’s Jurien Bay Marine Park, curious sea lion pups approached the photographer in the water. Gergo Rugli. A teenager stands at Bronte Ocean Pool, Sydney, as a powerful swell sends waves crashing over the closed bathing site. Andrea Michelutti, finalist in the Wildlife category. A scorpionfish consumes a lizardfish in a moment of hunting behavior near Anilao, Philippines, revealing the constant balance between survival and vulnerability on coral reefs.
