Explore new depths and immerse yourself in the beauty beneath the water’s surface through this breathtaking collection of images from Underwater Photographer of the Year 2024.

The winners have been revealed for the annual contest, which gives a platform to awe-inspiring photography captured beneath the surface of oceans, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools.

This year, more than 6,500 underwater pictures were entered by photographers around the world, with scenes captured including two fish fighting with their mouths to a close-up of a grey whale’s eye and a Bryde’s whale engulfing an entire bait ball. ‘Whales dominated the winning pictures this year,’ the judges commented.

However, the image that truly mesmerised the panel is Alex Dawson’s ‘Whale Bones’, which shows a diver swimming among the enormous skeletons of slaughtered whales off the coast of Greenland.

‘Whale Bones was photographed in the toughest conditions,’ explains chair of the judging panel Alex Mustard, ‘as a breath-hold diver descends below the Greenland ice sheet to bear witness to the carcasses. The composition invites us to consider our impact on the great creatures of this planet. Since the rise of humans, wild animals have declined by 85 per cent. Today, just four per cent of mammals are wildlife, the remaining 96 per cent are humans and our livestock. Our way needs to change to find a balance with nature.’

Scroll down to the very bottom to lay eyes on Dawson’s prize-winning shot. And on the way, gaze upon some of the category winners and shortlisted entries.