Stunning underwater photos that will make you see the ocean in a whole new light

As Renee Capozzola, a US-based photographer, explained in her photo caption submitted to the judges for the UN World Oceans Day photo competition and obtained by Insider, these fishermen were practicing handline fishing near the Solor Archipelago, Indonesia.

Handline fishing is a type of sustainable fishing without poles or nets, according to the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation.

Italy-based photographer Jacopo Brunetti's photograph was taken off the coast of Magdalena Bay, Mexico, according to the UN.

Henley Spiers, a UK-based photographer, took this image of a diver hunting for a yellowfin tuna off the shores of Costa Rica, according to the UN.

In Spiers' caption sent to the UN, the photographer said the local diver named David told him his "life and passion revolved around the rhythms of the ocean."

Victor Núñez photographed the mollusk, commonly known as a blue dragon sea slug, off the coast of Spain's Canary Islands, according to the UN.

In the image, the mollusk on the right is eating a jellyfish, the photographer said in the caption he submitted to the UN.

Pawel Zygmunt snapped this image using a drone, according to the UN.

"On the way up I was pummeled by a hail storm and pushed around by strong wind," Zygmunt wrote in his photo caption sent to the UN. "I wasn't sure if I would be able to fully experience this place but the wind dropped a bit and it became safer to explore. But I managed to capture Kalsoy Island from a slightly different perspective."

Christophe Mason-Parker's image shows the Passe Dubois, a tidal channel that intersects Ilot Emili and Ilot Yangue, two islets in the Seychelles.

Rafael Fernandez took this image from above off the coast of Mexico's Baja California Sur, according to the UN.

"While sailing in the open sea, it was amazing to see the whale from far away, the sea was flat and the conditions were perfect," Fernandez told the UN in a photo caption sent to Insider.

"The pup was warming up on the rocky shoreline after a recent swim in the cold water, as waves from the Pacific Ocean crashed in the background," Matthew Meier told the UN of the photo, which he took in La Jolla, California.

Francisco "Paco" Sedano told the UN that his edited image was inspired by the Disney movie, "Aladdin, the Cave of Wonders."

"There is a hidden cavern filled with all sorts of riches and magical artifacts that are guarded by a lion head," Sedano wrote in the caption of his photo. "This interpretation isn't very different, however, the cave is guarded by a moray eel and filled with precious species."

The idea behind Brett Stanley's image of model Christine Ren was to "look at the blindness consumers have when it comes to plastics, and their effect on the oceans — blindly buying goods and wish-cycling them in the hopes of allaying their own guilt," the photographer said in his submission to the UN.

Italy-based photographer and artist Renata Romeo's striking image of a woman's silhouette filled with soft coral, organ pipe coral, and Anthias fish impressed the judges.

Sayaka Ichinoseki, a Japan-based photographer, told the UN she believes the fish eggs in this image taken in Hokkaido are from a yellow goosefish.

The eggs were 2 millimeters in size and about ready to hatch, the photographer said.

US-based photographer Sam Briggs took this image in California's Bodega Bay, according to the UN.

The photo features an amphipod, a type of crustacean, staring out of its dwelling, which was constructed of sea lettuce and amphipod silk.

Evans Baudin took this photo off the coast of Mexico's Baja California Sur, according to the UN.

According to the photo caption, Tom St George's first-place image shows underwater views from the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, which is home to the world's largest underwater cave system, according to National Geographic.

Hannes Klostermann's image — which was also taken in Mexico's Baja California Sur, according to the photo caption — captures tuna that are preying on a sardine bait ball, which occurs when fish swarm in a tightly packed formation.

Sirachai Arunrugstichai photographed a diver exploring the remains of a Bryde's whale on the ocean floor at the Mu Koh Lanta National Park in Thailand, according to the UN.

Nur Tucker's first-place photograph of a sea lion pup was taken in Los Islotes in Mexico, according to the UN.

Marchione Giacom took this image off the coast of Cebù Island in the Philippines, according to the UN.

Titled "The Cloud," the photo shows sardines that form masses large enough to obscure sunlight.

Kevin De Vree titled the photo "Garden of Eden," according to the caption for his photo, which includes sunbeams piercing through the water outside of West Papua, Indonesia.

You can see last year's winners of the UN World Oceans Day photo competition here.