What's your photograph of the day 1097?

With their dramatic marine wildlife encounters, gorgeous examples of our species’ connection with the ocean and stark reminders of the human impact on our seas, underwater photographers bring the best of our ocean planet to life and highlight the many perils it faces.

SHANE GROSS - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024

A crested sculpin hiding

Are today’s baseball pitchers faster than a few years ago, or is it that radar guns have improved and get the pitch speed as it is released rather than as it reaches the plate?

Conservation efforts have transformed former poachers into protectors. Amid this success swims the rare leucistic green sea turtle.

PIETRO FORMIS - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024

MERCHE LLOBERA - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024

Tom Aspinall wishes Jon Jones well in retirement, declares himself ‘undisputed’ UFC champion - MMA Fighting

A marine iguana sits on a rock. Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

A spotted eagle ray’s natural pattern

With many thanks to:

Geologists Reveal World’s Biggest Iron Deposit Worth $6 Trillion Set to Impact Global Economy - The Daily Galaxy

Baby Plainfin Midshipman fish, still attached to their yolk sacs, are hidden under a rock in an intertidal zone in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

SHANE GROSS - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024

A spotted eagle ray’s natural pattern is on as-if-by-designer display. “On one of my dives, this beautiful eagle ray caught my eye,” says Palomeque Gonzalez. “It swam calmly across the sandy bottom as it exposed its intricate back to us all. I was amazed that nature inspires the most revolutionary creations. Its skin pattern reminds me of a binary code.”

Why did we evolve to have so many nerve endings in our anuses?

The hunt, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Papua New Guinea's Conflict Islands

Above, pelicans in the sea off Mexico’s Baja California Sur dive from the sky in a well-coordinated dance. Underwater, mahi-mahi dart around at top speed, chasing sardines. “The surface was murky from the feast, with sea lions also joining the action,” says Merche Llobera. “Whales passed by, but none went for the sardines.”

He said he loves me, but why is it difficult for him to leave his wife?

“The (African pompano) juveniles look very different from adults,” says Pietro Formis. “They are very thin, with a silver body and very long appendages on their fins. Usually, the filaments stretch out behind them, making it almost impossible to capture the whole fish. The long fins created circles around the silver fish, looking like neon lights at night.”’

‘“As we gaze at this marine iguana, with half of its body submerged in the waters and the other half emerging above the surface, it's impossible not to marvel at the uniqueness of these creatures,” says Fernandez Caballero. “Without a doubt, marine iguanas are living dinosaurs, a testament to the countless stages and transformations life on our planet has undergone.”

A 7 Image Gallery of Marine Photos Shortlisted For The Ocean Photographer Of The Year Contest. Just Awesome! Do Enjoy 🤍

Gina Ortiz Jones, a Progressive, Is Elected San Antonio’s Mayor - The New York Times

Portfolio Award, British Columbia, Canada

RAFAEL FERNANDEZ CABALLERO - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024

A crested sculpin hides in the stinging tentacles of a lion’s mane jellyfish. “The tentacles provide both shelter and food for the cryptic fish in Alaska’s Prince William Sound,” explains Shane Gross.

Stop Work Orders At NASA JPL - NASA Watch

Baby plainfin midshipman fish

JAKE WILTON - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024

Philippines

Eastern District of Virginia | U.S. Government seizes approximately 145 criminal marketplace domains - Department of Justice (.gov)

MIZAEL PALOMEQUE GONZALEZ, MEXICO - OCEAN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2024