I was informed that a panel of judges had selected the top underwater photos for 2017, and the grand winner was a photo of an octopus — so clicked over and looked. I was a little disappointed, since I’d already used that photo before…as well as a couple of others. I guess that means I must have good taste and a good eye to spot quality images before they win awards, right? But maybe it’s just that they’re all fantastically beautiful, as any fool can see.

So go browse all the candidate photos — they’ve all also got a short summary of how the picture was taken, and judges’ comments. You’ll find that whales are popular subjects, as are closeups of fish, and shots of underwater wrecks.

Fabrice Guerin

Jean Trestin