There have been many animals protagonists of the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2025, the prestigious photographic competition that aims to sensitize public opinion on the beauty and fragility of marine ecosystems, while supporting scientific research.
To triumph this year was a tiny and surprising couple: two “ladybugs” of the sea, or a pair of amphipods of the family Cyprideidae. Far from the impos of whales or sharks, these tiny creatures, just 3 millimeters long, have conquered the jury thanks to a perfectly balanced shot, made by the Russian photographer Yury Ivanov.
Specialized in underwater and resident macrophotography in Indonesia, Ivanov has immortalized the two amphipods resting on a coral in the waters of Bali. The composition of the image, the delicacy of the scene and the similar position of the two animals deeply hit the jury, which chose it between over 15,000 photographs sent from all over the world.
A recognition that demonstrates how, sometimes, gigantic creatures or spectacular moments are not needed to tell the wonder of the oceans: a close and sensitive look is enough, capable of grasping hidden poetry even in smaller life forms.
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The winners of the other categories, visible on the official website of the competition, are no different: among the most surprising shots there is that of Takumi Oyama, who won the category Wildlife photographing a small fish called pygmeo yellow gobide. In its image you can see a female who, in an unusual way for this species, helps eggs to hatch and releases the larvae just born directly from the mouth, showing a rare and touching moment of marine life.
In the “Conservation (Impact) category” category triumphed the raw and touching shot of Hugo Bret, made in Faroe Islands, which shows The fetus of a globicephalon with a long lifeless fin, lying under the body of the mother who has just killed. The image documents the consequences of the traditional whale hunt that every year causes the death of over a thousand cetaceans.
Equally raw is the image that triumphed in the “Human Connection Award” category: the shot of Craig Parry documents the desperate attempt to rescue a beached megatter.
Among the young people we find Aaron Sanders, author of a delicate and fascinating shot that portrays Two tiny squid during mating, on the seabed, in the middle of the night.
To find out all the other winners of this edition, we invite you to visit the official website.
