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DPG has always been bristling with inspiring photos, from reviews of the latest gear, from tales of your epic adventures around the world, and from the results of awesome underwater photography competitions (like DPG/Wetpixel Masters—deadline New Year's Eve!). But on a weekly basis, there’s one source of images that’s consistently inspirational: Photographer of the Week.

With the end of the year in sight, we’ve once again put together a “best of” to celebrate another 12 months of amazing portfolios. The following 20 images sum up not just the impressive skills of 20 special photographers, but also the fragile beauty and mind-blowing diversity of life in our oceans.

We’d like to take the opportunity to thank every photographer who shared their work in the column in 2022. Photographer of the Week just turned nine years old, but we’re confident that we’ll be uncovering amazing new talent—as well as adding the few well-known names that have yet to appear—in the column next year.
 

Viktor Lyagushkin: Petrovich the beluga is over 16 feet long and more than 20 years old. His curled front fins affirm the whale’s considerable age—the older the white whale, the more twisted its fins
 

Edwar Herreno: Whitetip reef shark mating, Cocos Island, Costa Rica
 

Giacomo Rossi: Sea lion catching a fish, Pacific Coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico
 

Sayaka Ichinoseki: Developing anglerfish eggs, Shakotan-gun, Hokkaido, Japan
 

Francis Pérez: Feeding Bryde’s whale, Tenerife, Canary Islands
 

Keigo Kawamura: Japanese manefish portrait, Izu Peninsula, Japan
 

Álvaro “Mekan” Herrero: Hawksbill turtle biting the dome port, Similan Islands, Thailand
 

Robert Stansfield: Rainbow tripodfish, Cozumel, Mexico
 

Javier Murcia: A seahorse gives birth to hundreds of tiny babies
 

Léna Remy: Potbelly seahorse, Kurnell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
 

Raffaele Livornese: Schooling sweetlips, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
 

Karlo Macas: Whale shark surrounded by jacks, Sail Rock, Thailand
 

Marc Casanovas: Monkfish (Lophius piscacorius), Tossa de Mar, Spain
 

Patrick Neumann: Cardinalfish with eggs, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
 

Al Hornsby: Great hammerhead, Bimini, Bahamas
 

Sage Ono: Tubesnout eggs on kelp, Monterey Bay, California, USA
 

Veronika Nagy: Hooded nudibranch, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada
 

Billy Ball: Seaweed blenny, Blue Heron Bridge, Florida, USA
 

Hannah Le Leu and Mitchell Romanowski: Green sea turtle in a tropical storm, Heron Island, Australia
 

Tom Shlesinger: Goliath grouper, Palm Beach, Florida, USA