Haunting Image of Whale Skeletons Wins Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024

Matt Growcoot
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024
The winner of Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024.

A stark photo of a diver examining the aftermath of a whale hunt has won Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024.

The brutal image taken by Alex Dawson from Sweden beat off over 6,500 other entrants. The image shows a breath-hold diver below a sheet of ice in Greenland inspecting whale carcasses.

Wide Angle

The remains of whaling undertaken by hunters from Greenland. The minke whales there have a stable population and the hunters use almost all of the whale but the skeleton is put back into the sea where marine invertebrates and fish pick the bones clean. Winner of the Wide Angle category and Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024. | © Alex Dawson/UPY2024
A pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins swimming in the Bahamas. Runner up in the Wide Angle category. | © Remuna Beca/UPY2024
A lemon shark rises from the depths at dusk in the Bahamas. Third place in the Wide Angle category. | © Remuna Beca/UPY2024

Macro

A potbelly seahorse in Australia. Winner of the Macro category. | © Talia Greis/UPY2024
A tiny octopus hitches a ride to the surface in the Philippines. Runner up of the Macro category. | © Dennis Corpuz/UPY2024
Two pygmy seahorses. Third place in the Macro category. © Byron Conory/UPY2024

Wrecks

An underwater military museum in Jordan. Winner of the Wrecks category. | © Martin Broen/UPY2024
The wreck of the Kyle Spangler in Lake Huron. Runner up in the Wrecks category. | © Becky Schott/UPY2024
A huge school of fish swarms a shipwreck in Brazil. Third place in the Wrecks category. | © Fabiana Fregonesi/UPY2024

Behavior

A Bryde’s whale picks off the end of a bait ball. Winner of the Behavior category. | © Rafael Fernandez Caballero/UPY2024
Two female Zoarchias major eelpouts fight over a suitable spawning nest. Runner up in the Behavior category. | © JingGong Zhang/UPY2024
A lone tiger shark picks the bones of a young humpback whale’s carcass. Third place in the Behavior category. | © Brooke Pyke/UPY2024

Portrait

A gray whale. Winner of the Portrait category. | © Rafael Fernandez Caballero/UPY2024
A curious cormorant approaches the photographer beneath a kelp forest in Monterey, California. Runner up in the Portrait category. | © Jon Anderson/UPY2024
A swimming macaque in Thailand. Third place in the Portrait category. | © Suliman Alatiqi/UPY2024

Black and White

Members of a synchronized swimming team in a pool. Winner of the Black and White category. | © Jasmine Skye Smith/UPY2024
A great white shark near Australia. Runner up in the Black and White category. | © Matty Smith/UPY2024
Bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Mayotte. Third place in the Black and White category. | © Serge Melesan/UPY2024

Compact

A nudibranch in Bali, Indonesia. Winner of the Compact category. | © Enrico Somogy/UPY2024
A coconut octopus feels the photographer’s lens. Runner up in the Compact category. | © Enrico Somogy/UPY2024
A bottlenose dolphin in an Egyptian lagoon. Third place in the Compact category. | © Ilaria Mariagiulia Rizzuto/UPY2024

Up and Coming

An opportunistic mahi mahi swipes a fish from a baitball. Winner of the Up and Coming category. | © Lisa Stengel/UPY2024
A diver swims into a circle of baby barracudas. Runner up in the Up and Coming category. | © Sarah O’Gorman/UPY2024
A lionfish in Indonesia. Third place in the Up and Coming category. | © Bryan H. Blauvelt/UPY2024

British Waters Wide Angle

Diving gannets off the coast of Scotland. Winner of the British Waters Wide Angle category. | © Kat Zhou/UPY2024
Bass fish. Second place in the British Waters Wide Angle category. | © Kirsty Andrews/UPY2024
A World War II submarine off the coast of Cornwall. Third place in the British Waters Wide Angle category. | © Rick Ayrton/UPY2024

Underwater Photographer of the Year is a U.K.-based competition with categories just for Brits. For more, head to the competition’s website.

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