The winners of the 2025 underwater photographer of the year competition have been revealed with the top award for their photo with Spanish photographer Alvaro Herroo Bright bond Showing a special relationship between a mother Hampback Whale and her newborn calf.
This photo was taken in French Polynesia and more than 6,750 underwriting photographs recorded by underwater photographers around the world. “The mother is going to the surface with her calf because the child is still so small and clumsy,” herero says.
The underwater photographer of the year is an annual competition located in the UK, which celebrates photography below the surface of the oceans, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools, and attracts entries from all over the world. In 2025, the competition attracted 6750 underwater photographs, with photographers coming from 28 different countries.
The competition has 13 categories, test photographers with topics such as macro, wide angle, behavior and debris photography, and three categories for photographs especially in British water.
The winners were announced at an award ceremony in Central London hosted by Crown Estate. This year’s judges were given underwater photographers Peter Rownds, Tobias Frederick and Dr. Alexander Mustard MBE was experienced. The competition was first conducted in 1965 when Phil Smith was named underwater photographer of the year.
