We humans may fancy our dry-land abode a pretty fine place, yet nature has furnished a whole universe full of jaw-dropping scenes underwater. And it’s just waiting for landbound photographers to embrace its marine majesty.

Underwater Photographer of the Year (UPY) specifically focuses on this milieu of aquatic, camera-wielding visual artists in its yearly competition, displaying some of the best underwater photography in the world. It doesn’t have to be from the ocean, either. The imagery can come from rivers or even your own backyard swimming pool.

This year’s UPY winner, Kat Zhou from the United States, captured a magical moment dubbed “Boto Encantado” during a sunset in the Amazon River. It features the endangered river dolphin in a split image that depicts scenery above and below the dark, turgid river’s waterline.

Sharing some of the inspiration behind her shot, Zhou recounted a local South American legend:

“There’s a legend among locals that river dolphins, or ‘botos,’ can transform into handsome men known as ‘boto encantado’ to seduce women,” she told UPY. “Though I did not witness the transformation, I was enchanted by these beautiful mammals in a different way. After seeing how botos would sometimes bring their beaks above water, I wanted a split shot at sunset. Though the water was so dark that I was shooting blind, this dolphin gave me a perfect pose and smile!”

She notes that as more people settled the Amazon they began living in closer proximity to the dolphins.

“Many river dolphins have been killed for use as fish bait, drowned in gill nets or poisoned by mercury pollution from mining,” she said. “I fear that one day botos will truly become no more than mythical creatures.”

UPY devotes four of its other categories specifically to underwater images taken by British photographers. Ollie Clarke, an Englishman now living in Australia, claimed the title of British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2023 for his image, “The Swarm,” in which he portrays the world’s largest fish, the whale shark, engulfed in a bait ball of smaller fish in Ningaloo, Western Australia.

“Whale sharks on the Ningaloo Reef are often accompanied by small groups of fish,” Clarke said. “The fish use the giant shark as a floating shelter. However, this bait-ball was huge with a lot more fish than usual and much denser, so I was really excited to photograph it.”

Besides underwater animals—such as river dolphins and whale sharks—there are thriving jungles of plant life beneath the waves, such as the marine jungle of the Himanthalia algae on the chalk reefs of the Needles Marine Conservation Zone, captured by UK-based photographer Theo Vickers. He spoke of the expedition leading up to his winning image, titled “An Island’s Wild Seas.”

“Exploring the shallower reefs on a summer evening, my mission was to capture a wide-angle image that documented this stunning local habitat, combining both the towering forests above and the anemones that rule the chalk seabed below,” he told UPY. “After several unsatisfying attempts, I stumbled upon this gully packed with snakelocks, and sinking into the forest beneath, found the composition I had been seeking.”

UPY has a category dedicated to exactly that. Brett Eldridge from the United States took some 750 photos of a WWII-era fighter aircraft that crashed decades ago and now rests in a watery grave, some 270 feet below the waves.

Eldridge pieced the images together and built a 3D model of the downed F8F Bearcat, garnering him top prize in the Wrecks category.

These “absolutely wild” deep-water swimmers enter the intertidal zone where males then “sing” to attract females to lay their eggs. She may or may not, depending on her partiality toward the song. Gross’s aptly titled picture, “Unsung,” garnered him the top prize in the Marelux Macro category.