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The 2018 Underwater Photography Winners Are Otherworldly

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The Underwater Photography of the Year Competition announced its 2018 winners Monday, and the photos capture all the different landscapes hiding in the oceans. The competition’s been going on for just a few years, and 110 lucky photos received honors this year—out of more than 5,000 entries from 63 countries. The awards include a variety of categories from photographer of the year to shipwrecks, giving a chance for every type of underwater photographer to compete.

Here are the ones that blew us away.

CYCLE-WAR: Tobias Friedrich (Germany)

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This bad boy landed Friedrick with the 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year Award. The panoramic photo showcases a shipwreck in Egypt with motorcycles covered in moss.

Surrounded: Fan Ping (China)

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This photo of Caribbean reef sharks didn’t win anything, but it was a runner-up for the Wide Angle category.

ROAR: ManBd UiDive (Malaysia)

This striking shot of a nudibranch took UiDive a half hour to capture. It scored him the Up and Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year Award.

Tannic water at Cenote Carwash: Tom St George (Mexico)

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While most think of water as blue and green, this photo shows the ways the water of Cenote Carwash in Mexico can turn a reddish brown when decaying leaf and other organisms end up in it.

How many pike?: Tony Stephenson (UK)

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This is a simple shot, but it won in the Most Promising British Underwater Photographer category. These fixated pike are rushing to woo a mate.

Pretty lady: TianHong Wang (China)

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The bright pinks and oranges of Wang’s work are a refreshing break from the cool tones found throughout this year’s awardees. This highly commended photo landed in the Macro category.

Unusually parked car: Pekka Tuuri (Finland)

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Cars don’t fall through the ice every day (right?). Tuuri was lucky enough to know some people whose car did (they were fine, by the way), and so this was the shot. This is another highly commended image for the Wrecks category.

A sand tiger shark surrounded by tiny bait fish: Tanya Houppermans (U.S.)

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There is no such thing as too many photos of sharks. This image won the Portrait award.

Spinning anthias: Anders Nyberg (Sweden)

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A reflection is an odd thing, isn’t it? Except that’s not what you’re looking at. It’s two fighting anthias.

Hypnosis: Wendy Timmermans (Netherlands)

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When the lighting’s just right, you don’t need color. This photo was featured alongside the Black and White awardees.

Frogfish illusion: Ipah UiD (Malaysia)

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The pastels flowing out of this picture don’t feel like they’re underwater. Maybe that’s why it’s so magical. This photo didn’t win any first-place prizes, but it did come in third for the Compact category.