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Overall winner – “Unseen Unsung Heroes”: Winner, Ocean Worlds by Angel Fitor
 

The 2025 Environmental Photography Award winners have been announced—and the Grand Prize Winner is an intriguing underwater image. Shot by Angel Fitor, the winning photo in the Ocean Worlds category, called “Unseen Unsung Heroes,” is a fascinating capture of polychaete worms flushing sand out of their burrows on a seagrass bed in the Spanish Mediterranean. The worms maintain oxygen circulation in the upper layers of sediment, a crucial role that allows a whole ecosystem to thrive under the substrate. At a global scale, the unsung activity of these perpetually hidden worms has significant consequences. Fitor says his winning shot “portrays the silent actions of humble creatures that nonetheless have a pivotal influence on the entire Mediterranean marine ecosystem—an ecosystem upon which we, in turn, depend.”

Honoring photographers who raise awareness about environmental issues and spotlight environmental challenges, the annual Environmental Photography Award was founded in 2021 to celebrate the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s 15th anniversary. This year, a prestigious jury of environmentalists, conservation photojournalists and filmmakers—including well-known names Ami Vitale, Aaron Gekoski and Ralph Pace—selected winners in five categories: Polar Wonders, Into the Forest, Ocean Worlds, Humanity versus Nature, and Change Makers: Reasons for Hope. Impressively, Fitor also won the Change Makers: Reasons for Hope category with an image showcasing a baby loggerhead sea turtle in a Spanish recovery center. Two more of his images were shortlisted in the Ocean Worlds category. In the Polar Wonders category, the winning image was also shot underwater: Galice Hoarau’s capture of a lion’s mane jellyfish in the frigid waters of Greenland.

To see the full gallery of winners, head over to the Environmental Photography Award website.
 

“Training Day”: Winner, Change Makers: Reasons for Hope by Angel Fitor
 

“Jellyfish and Iceberg”: Winner, Polar Wonders by Galice Hoarau
 

“The Passenger”: Runner-up, Ocean Worlds by Pietro Formis
 

“Coho Salmon in a Log Structure”: Runner-up, Into the Forest by David Herasimtschuk