Matty Smith, “Rockpool Rookies,” Sealion Island, the Falklands. Portrait category and overall UPY winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
There’s something magical about underwater photography, allowing us to peer beneath the waves and discover an entirely new world. This ethos undoubtedly propels the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition (UPY), which has celebrated the medium’s artistry and those that champion it since 1965. For UPY2026, creativity and cuteness united in the contest’s winning entry, proving just how diverse underwater photography can be.
Matty Smith triumphed over nearly 8,000 submissions from around the globe with Rockpool Rookies, shot on Sealion Island of the Falklands. The photograph depicts a pair of young elephant seals, one playfully nipping at the other, whose eyes adorably peer up at the camera. Aside from its endearing subjects, the photograph also boasts a clever composition, divided into three distinct parts by the mossy rocks, the water’s edge, and the dramatic evening sky. The effect highlights the various environments that elephant seals traverse throughout their lives, considering they live both on land and in the sea.
“Once their pups are weaned, elephant seal mothers abandon them ashore,” Smith explains. “I watched dozens clamber over one another in shallow rockpools, awkwardly learning to swim. On my very first evening, the sky ignited with color and I captured a handful of frames before the light vanished. It was the defining moment of the long trip.”
For Alex Mustard, a marine ecologist and the chair of the competition’s judging panel, the image evokes the elephant seal’s endangerment while still offering a glimmer of hope. “Elephant seals were hunted right to the brink of extinction,” he says. “Their oil rich blubber was used for everything from fuel for lighting to margarine. Fortunately, the hunt was stopped just in time, and their recovery over the last 100 years is a great example of the resilience of the ocean.”
Khaichuin Sim’s winning entry also contends with environmentalism and the fragility of our ecosystems. Headlining the competition’s “Marine Conservation” category, Sim’s photograph showcases Grindadráp, a centuries-old yet controversial tradition in which pilot whales are hunted across the Faroe Islands. In this scene, a young boy sits atop a slain whale amid blood-red waters, a “haunting reflection of how tradition, identity, and ethics collide,” per Sim.
“[This is] a sad but powerful image which asks more questions than it answers,” contest judge Peter Rowlands remarks. “The message must be that traditions such as these have no place in modern society. Photography has the power to bring change.”
In the “Up & Coming” category, Sam Blount dazzles with a photograph of a leopard seal lunging toward the camera, its mouth stretched open to expose its sharp teeth. In the “Black & White” category, on the other hand, Shunsuke Nakano offers a meditative portrait of a fish swimming through coral, their branches tangled and meandering like veins.
This is just a snapshot of the winning photographs from the 2026 competition. Scroll down to discover more remarkable images from our underwater world.
Matty Smith’s photograph of two elephant seals playing beneath the waves has won this year’s Underwater Photographer of the Year Award, which celebrates depictions of our underwater world.
Sam Blount, “Lunging Leopard,” Antarctic Peninsula. Up & Coming category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Khaichuin Sim, “Where Innocence Meets Tradition,” Hvítanes, Faroe Islands. “Save our Seas Foundation” category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Shunsuke Nakano, “Coral Window,” Sado, Japan. Black & White category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Tom Shlesinger, “Underwater Meteor Shower,” Northern Red Sea, Israel. Coral Reefs category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Merche Llobera, “White Spirits,” Churchill, Canada. Third place, portrait category. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
David Alpert, “Power and Pace,” Duiker Island, Cape Town, South Africa. Third place, Black & White category. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Niclas Andersson, “The Guns of the Nagato,” Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. Wrecks category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Andrea Michelutti, “Alpine Lookout,” Lake Cornino, Italy. Compact category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Steven Kovacs, “Screaming Swallower,” Palm Beach, FL. Runner-up, portrait category. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Cecile Gabillon Barats, “Happy Baby,” Roseau, Dominica. Wide Angle category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Kazushige Horiguchi, “Clownfish Hatchout,” Kagoshima Minamisatsuma, Japan. Behavior category winner. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)
Natalie Yarrow, “Crowded House,” Bali, Indonesia. Most Promising British Underwater Photographer 2026. (Photo: courtesy of UPY2026)