Winners Gallery
Finalist Exploration Photographer of the Year
Scott Portelli Tonga
False killer whales, in black and white. “False killer whales are something of a mystery to the cetacean world,” says photographer Scott Portelli. “Encounters are rare and often brief. This female uses loud clicks and whistles to communicate her feelings to us. She releases a stream of bubbles to distract from the vulnerable calf she keeps close to her body.”
BEHIND THE LENS
Scott Portelli Australia
ABOUT THE IMAGE
- Late morning
- Overcast conditions
- Taken while snorkelling
- 26 degrees Celsius water temperature
Scott Portelli is an award-winning wildlife, nature, aerial, and underwater photographer and filmmaker based in Esperance, Western Australia. With thousands of hours spent in remote regions, his work focuses on conservation, education, and capturing wildlife with a low-impact, non-invasive approach. Scott has won Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year (2021, 2024) and earned recognition from Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2016, 2022). He has spent over a decade documenting Antarctica and the Sub-Antarctic, producing a fine art portfolio that reveals rare glimpses above and below the surface in some of Earth’s harshest environments.
MORE IMAGES BY Scott Portelli
Conservation (Impact)Photographer of the Year
2024 Barents Sea, Arctic
WildlifePhotographer of the Year
2023 Falkland Islands
Reconnect. Immerse yourself. Be inspired.
Enjoy the vibrancy, beauty and impact of each year's finalist photography, celebrated in our Ocean Photographer of the Year coffee table book collection.
