Striking portrait of a seahorse farewell wins Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026

A portrait capturing an extraordinary moment between an adult seahorse and two newly born juveniles in French Polynesia has been crowned the overall winner of the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 competition.

Although it’s impossible to know if the seahorses are related, the image appears to show two freshly birthed babies looking back to their father before venturing further into the world.

Organizers on Wednesday also revealed the category winners for this year’s competition, which received thousands of entries.

Dolphins riding waves alongside surfers in Sydney, rescuers trying to help a stranded pilot whale in Cape Verde and an inquisitive green turtle are among the category winners.

Overall winner Julien Anton, who captured the seahorse photograph, thanked the communities in Tahiti and Moorea “whose knowledge made this image possible.”

“We spent countless hours searching in difficult conditions, with no guarantee of finding a single seahorse. That is what made the moment so extraordinary — when the juveniles turned back towards the adult, it felt like something far beyond what I had dared to hope for,” Anton said in a statement.

Anton called himself a hobbyist photographer rather than a professional.

Audun Rikardsen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Incredible shortlisted images from Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“My hope is that this image can serve as a bridge between science, conservation and a world that deserves to know what is at stake,” he said.

“It is an image that demands reflection, pause for thought, and it certainly got that from us,” Will Harrison, founder and director of the award, said of Anton’s photograph.

“It is ocean photography at its most powerful: intimate, urgent and impossible to ignore,” he added.

The category winners can be viewed in the gallery above.

The competition is co-presented by Oceanographic and Blancpain.

一张捕捉到法属波利尼西亚一只成年海马和两只刚出生的小海马之间非凡瞬间的肖像照，荣获 2026 年度海洋摄影师大赛总冠军。

虽然无法确定这两只海马是否有亲缘关系，但图片似乎显示两只刚出生的小海马在冒险探索更广阔的世界之前，回头望向它们的父亲。

周三，主办方还公布了今年比赛的各个类别获奖者，本次比赛共收到数千份参赛作品。

在悉尼，海豚与冲浪者一起乘风破浪；在佛得角，救援人员试图帮助搁浅的领航鲸；还有一只好奇的绿海龟，这些都是获奖作品。

最终的获胜者朱利安·安东拍摄了海马照片，他感谢塔希提岛和莫雷阿岛的社区，“正是他们的知识才使得这张照片成为可能”。

“我们花了无数个小时在恶劣的条件下搜寻，而且无法保证一定能找到一只海马。正因如此，当幼海马转身回到成海马身边时，那一刻才显得如此非凡——感觉远远超出了我敢于奢望的程度，”安东在一份声明中说道。

安东称自己是业余摄影师，而不是专业摄影师。

Audun Rikardsen/年度野生动物摄影师

入围年度野生动物摄影师大赛的精彩照片

“我希望这张照片能够成为科学、自然保护以及一个有权了解事态严重性的世界之间的桥梁，”他说。

“这是一张引人深思、令人停下来思考的照片，它确实让我们产生了这种感觉，”该奖项的创始人兼总监威尔·哈里森在谈到安东的照片时说道。

“这是最震撼人心的海洋摄影作品：细腻、紧迫，令人无法忽视，”他补充道。

以上图库展示了各类别获奖者。

本次比赛由 Oceanographic 和 Blancpain 联合举办。