Against All Odds: Third Place, Wide Angle. Near Heron Island, Australia, a green sea-turtle hatchling cautiously surfaces for air to a sky full of hungry birds. Against all odds, this hatchling must battle through the conditions of a raging storm while evading a myriad of predators. Not only has the tropical storm brought out thousands of circling birds, but there are also patrolling sharks and large schools of fish on the hunt for baby turtles. #

Long-Snouted Seahorse: Honorable Mention, Portrait. The spiny seahorse, also known as the long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus), is recognizable by the longer snout and fleshy mane on its neck and back. This photo was taken during a shallow dive near Biograd na Moru, Croatia. #

Snoeken: First Place, Marine Life Behavior. This photograph was captured during a night dive in October at the dive site Domein Muisbroek, near Antwerp, Belgium. To my surprise, I came across these fighting pike. #

In the River After the Floods: First Place, Compact Behavior. Ouenghi River, New Caledonia. Several times a year, heavy rains cause the waters of our rivers to rise several meters and take away a lot of green waste, leaves, branches, and sometimes whole trees torn from the banks. With the current very strong, I waited a few days for the water to recede. I spent a week or so with friends who live near the river, to take pictures of the Doules (Kuhlia rupestris), commonly called Caledonian carp. That day, one of them having come close to the surface, I was able to take this photo with a drifting palm branch. #

Family: First Place, Wide Angle. A group of pilot whales resides in clear waters in the southwest of the channel between the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera. We can see adult females with calves and juvenile whales swimming together. It is normal to see this group of interrelated individuals apart from the big males. #

Mating Southern Keeled Octopuses: Third Place, Compact Behavior. This was the first time I'd ever witnessed a pair of southern keeled octopuses engaged in mating. It was also the first time I've ever seen octopuses mating with a shell between them. When I first spotted them from a distance, the male was sitting atop the shell containing the female. I saw him dismount the shell and move several meters away, so I continued to observe from a slight distance, hoping he would return to the waiting female. After several minutes of us waiting and watching each other from afar, I wondered what would happen if I slowly approached the shell. I was surprised to see the male mirroring my movement. When I got very close to the shell, the male climbed onto it again and inserted his hectocotylus mating arm into the waiting female below, allowing me to get a very close and intimate shot of the action. Photographed along Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. #

Party Time: First Place, Compact Macro. I took this photo during my first diving holiday in Egypt last year. I had just gotten a new camera before that I wanted to test there. I didn't know what to expect, and I was hoping for some tiny underwater critters, which are my favorites. It was at the end of a dive at the house reef and we were just heading to the exit when a diver from another group grabbed me and showed me this gathering of Idiomysis shrimp. #

Parende Padden: Honorable Mention, Coldwater. Toads mate in early spring, in March, at a water temperature of 8 degrees Celsius. I've been tracking this behavior for several years, and on a cold sunny March day, some rays of sun fell on these toads, putting them right in the spotlight. This photo was taken while snorkeling at a depth of one meter, in Belgium. #

Bryde's Whale With Ghost Net: Third Place, Underwater Conservation. We were on the island of Faial with special permission from local authorities to photograph whales underwater. We already had some good whale encounters when we noticed this Bryde's whale. We were able to determine that there were injuries to the animal's mouth, but we could not identify the cause. Only when we were in the water did we find that the animal was caught in a ghost net. This net had already cut deep into the whale's snout and was longer than the whale itself. It was a really sad sight for us. In spite of attempts, we unfortunately did not succeed in freeing the animal from the net because it was traveling too deep and too fast. If the net cannot be loosened, the whale will perish miserably. Local biologists were informed. #

Steller Friends: Honorable Mention, Coldwater. During the fall of 2020, I spent many hours scuba diving with California sea-lion pups in the Coronado Islands, Baja California, Mexico, to observe their development. #

Mom: Honorable Mention, Macro. Peacock mantis shrimp are very common in Philippine waters. We were lucky to find this beautiful model with eggs. It was really hard to take this shot because she was really shy at first. I had spent all my air waiting and making her comfortable with my equipment. When she came outside her hole, I was ready to catch the moment. Photographed in Anilao, Batangas, Philippines. #

Flared Beauty: Second Place, Blackwater. A favorite subject to encounter on a blackwater dive is the beautiful larval tripod fish. Like many other larval fishes, the young of these species have large, rounded fins that they can use to mimic jellyfish in order to try to stay camouflaged from predators. The fins of these species are more spectacular than most other fish, and the wide range of color variations that exist is truly breathtaking. #

Traffic Jam: First Place, Coldwater. I anchored myself against a rock at the base of a small plunge pool and watched wave after wave of pink salmon cruise by and make the leap up the falls to head toward spawning grounds upstream. The fish are so singularly focused on their mission, they paid no mind to me at all. I was just part of their environment. Photographed on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. #

Festoons: Third Place, Marine Life Behavior. After mating, the female gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus) finds a suitable den to lay her eggs, usually tucking herself into a crevice. Each fertilized egg is protected by a translucent white sac that contains the nutrient-rich yolk for it to develop in. Eggs are then braided together, forming festoons of eggs. Just like ribbons or lights, the festoons of eggs are delicately attached to the surface of the den, hanging over the mother who spends the rest of her life caring for her young. Location: Australia, New South Wales. #

Basking Shark Mating Aggregation: Third Place, Coldwater. This summer we had an unusual spell of easterly winds that calmed the North Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland. We’d heard rumors from local fishermen of basking sharks being sighted off the coast here, so we headed off early to see if we could find any, and almost as soon as we got to the area and stopped the boat, we could see fins. Jumping into the water, we were greeted by huge groups, up to 30 animals, of these 35-foot-long sharks. We were able to swim with several groups of these amazing animals for the full day. The sharks completely ignored us, seemingly focused on mating carousals where they followed one another, nose to tail, in several large spiraling aggregations. #

Social Distancing Ladybug Style: Second Place, Macro. This was my first time diving Komodo and I had heard great things, but I was most excited for this subject (ladybug amphipods), which Komodo has in abundance. I took advantage of the green water and poor visibility that we experienced by shooting macro almost exclusively, and it did not disappoint. I took several images of this crinoid, and this was my favorite. This was the last trip I took before the world shut down. One week after I got back, we went into lockdown, so the memory of it is bittersweet. #

Guarding Eggs: Second Place, Marine Life Behavior. Most yellow pygmy gobies are found in old wormholes or empty bottles. We found these gobies living under the bottom of a black sponge. The male goby was circling around to guard their fertilized eggs. Because of the position of the eggs, I had to shoot it upside down. After I arranged all the gear and waited about 10 minutes, the male goby paused on the place I expected, and I pressed the shutter. Location: Anilao, Batangas, Philippines. #

Motherhood: First Place, Compact Wide Angle. Humpback whale mothers and their calves are seen annually in the shallow waters off of Mo'orea, Tahiti, typically from August to October. It's important to approach a mother and calf slowly and with respect—not every pair will stay in the area once they spot you. We were fortunate that this mother was quite comfortable in our presence, even encouraging her shy calf to get a closer look at us by pushing him toward us with her nose. #