The Ocean Photographer of the Year competition from Oceanographic magazine has revealed the 2024 winning photographs. First place and the title of Photographer of the Year goes to Rafael Fernández Caballero of Mexico for the image above of a Bryde’s whale ready to eat a whole school of sardines. He took the picture off Baja California Sur in December. The striking photo rose to the top of the more than 15,000 entries this year.
Second place went to Jade Hoksbergen for this photograph of a northern gannet diving for a meal off the Shetland Islands. Third place was won by Thien Nguyen for a drone photo taken above a fishing boat in Hon Yen, Vietnam.
There were also awards given in the categories of wildlife, fine art, adventure, conservation impact, conservation hope, human connection, young photographer, and ocean portfolio. Click to the right on the image at the top to see category winners from the competition. At Instagram, you can find links to each photographer's gallery. At the contest winners gallery, you can read the stories behind each winning photograph.