Stunning work of photographers - participants of The Underwater Photographer Of The Year

Forget about the Grammy or the BAFTA Awards, the winners of The Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2017 were just announced. They showed the best photos taken underwater that you can see.

Winner of competition

Since the first contest in 1965, the current one has turned out to be the largest one. It was attended by 4,500 photographers from 67 different countries.

"I was captivated not only by the winning images, but also by the stories that were hidden behind the work of photographers when they took these pictures," says Peter Rovlands, chairman of the jury.

The winner of The Underwater Photographer Of The Year 2017 was Briton - Nick Blake from Dublin, Ireland. He received the award for his work Out Of The Blue (main photo material). This photo was taken in a freshwater gutter in Mexico, known as the Cenote Chak Mole.

Grand Prize Winner

Grand Prix was given to the French diver Gabriel Baratiou for a photo of Dancing Octopus, made in shallow waters near the small island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. He managed to impress judges with his technical skill, simplicity and a clear image of the animal. This image shows the octopus during the hunt. He is shot in a threatening pose, although from the side it may seem that this is a kind of dance. The mode of movement of octopuses is so much different from that used by any other carnivores on the earth, that these animals really can seem to somebody newcomers from another world. Judge Alex Mastard says: "This picture was taken by the photographer while he was knee-deep in the water, which once again underscores the openness of underwater photography for anyone who is ready to dip a finger in the water."

Winners in other categories

In total, the contest is divided into 10 categories, and each of them shows another aspect of the deep blue sea or the art of the photographer in the wild. Many works are available for viewing on the official website of the contest, but we offer you a few that impress the most.

Horacio Martinez from Argentina made this photo, which is called Oceanic In The Sky, in Egypt. He received a prize in the category Up and Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017.

Nikolay Giorgiu took home a prize in the category of Most Promising British Underwater Photographer for a photo of a flock of killer whales, which he made in Northern Norway.

The winner in the category of Macro was Yat Vai from Hong Kong, who received a prize for the work of Prey ?, made during the immersion in the dark waters of Anilão.

The work, which attracted a lot of attention, belongs to Nadeem Kulagina from Kazakhstan. The photo with the name The Haunted Room was made in Sudan.

The photo was highly appreciated by The Festive Table, made by Mikko Serila in Finland.