Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026: Stunning Winning Images Revealed
The Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 competition has named Matty Smith its overall winner for his portrait of Southern elephant seal pups, titled Rockpool Rookies. Announced in central London and hosted by The Crown Estate, the competition drew 7,934 submissions from photographers across 28 countries, highlighting exceptional marine imagery across 14 distinct categories.
Capturing the Falkland Islands Rockpool Rookies
Matty Smith secured the top title with an image captured on Sealion Island in the Falklands. According to competition details, the photograph features elephant seal pups that are several weeks old, recently weaned, and left by their parents on shore to navigate life alone. Smith watched dozens of pups clamber over one another in shallow rockpools while awkwardly learning to swim. Donning a dry suit on the first evening of his arrival as the sky ignited with color, he rushed into the water to capture the defining moment before the light vanished.
The judging panel for the 2026 contest included renowned underwater photographers Peter Rowlands, Tobias Friedrich, and Dr. Alex Mustard MBE. The competition celebrates photography beneath oceans, lakes, rivers, and swimming pools across categories such as Macro, Wide Angle, Behaviour, and Wreck photography.
Deepwater Dives and Rare Behavioral Encounters
Beyond the winning portrait, the contest recognized other remarkable marine behaviors. Steven Kovacs earned the runner-up spot in the portrait category with an image titled Screaming Swallower. The photograph captures a fish belonging to the family Chiasmodontidae, commonly known as snaketooth fishes or swallowers, during a blackwater dive off the coast of Florida.
Swallowers appear annually off Florida between late July and early October. These fish are renowned for their anatomical ability to consume prey larger than themselves, featuring mouths and stomachs capable of expanding to accommodate meals up to twice their length and ten times their weight. Kovacs noted that the subject was hanging upside down in the water column before unexpectedly yawning, allowing for a quick reaction and a clear portrait capture.
Documenting Synchronized Coral Reproduction
In the Coral Reefs category, Dr. Tom Shlesinger claimed the winning spot with an image titled Underwater Meteor Shower. The photograph captures coral reproduction in the northern Red Sea, showcasing the moment thousands of corals across hundreds of kilometers synchronize to release egg-and-sperm bundles into the open sea.
According to documentation of the event, this fleeting biological spectacle occurs only once a year on a specific night within a narrow window of minutes. Shlesinger used a slow shutter speed as waves broke and swept buoyant bundles upward, transforming the scene into a colorful underwater meteor shower. This project forms part of an ongoing scientific-documentary journey exploring the nocturnal reproductive rituals of corals in the region.
Global Marine Conservation and Professional Logistics
The full gallery of 39 winning images from the 2026 contest remains available for public viewing through the official Underwater Photographer of the Year platform, offering a comprehensive look at the biodiversity thriving beneath the world’s waters.
