Four months, 400 photographs, 50 countries and a couple of expert judges add up to a thrilling photo contest.
And now it is time to reveal the winning images and their photographers...

The winner of the Suunto Underwater Photo competition is the stunning "Dolphin in the Winter" by Amir Weidenfeld from Israel. Second place went to Zlatica Pircova from the Czech Republic with the image "Shrimps", and third place winner is John Scarlett from the USA with his image "Lemon Sunset". Congratulations to all three Suunto Underwater Photo Competition winners!

We would like to thank all the participants for your great images and stories about how they were taken.

Check out also the UW Photo Gallery to find out who won the special mentions and what other images was selected to top 20 by the judges.

Amir Weidenfeld
Country: Israel
Description: The picture was taken at the Dolphin Reef, Israel .
In Eilat, there is only few days during the year when the sky have clouds, but in the day I photographed this picture there were clouds and the light was beautiful under and above the water.
In the picture I wanted to show the storm and the action above the water and the quiescence of the dolphin under the water and the connection between the two worlds.

Judges' comments:
Kimmo Hagman: "Fascinating image and a defined winner for me. The image includes energy and drama. The combination of split image, dolphins as the subject, black clouds on the background, and the appealing colours make this image to be the interesting winning image."
Ralf Åström: "There are elements of surprise, drama and speed in the picture. Rain clouds in the background distinguish this photo from photos in diving magazines which are normally presented with the sun shining in a clear blue sky. I could easily imagine seeing a picture like this in National Geographic. The boats on the background create 3-dimensionality to the picture. The dolphins' fins form a clear diagonal line from lower left to upper right."

Zlatica Pircova
Country: Czech Republic
Description: It was very hard to choose only one image from our great vacation in the Philippines. This image represents what you can find on Mindoro. There are many of small creatures such as shrimps, nudibranches, seahorses etc. This image simply says it all for me!

Judges' comments:
Kimmo Hagman: "Great macro shot. The sharpness and colors are truly brilliant, and make this image to be the clear second placer. The small minus was the shooting angle from straight above, which could have been more from the front and would then bring more liveliness to the image."
Ralf Åström: "A beautiful image with harmonic colors, though it is a bit postcard-like. The cropping of the image is somewhat tight-fitting and the shooting angle could be slightly more from the front."

John Scarlett
Country: USA
Description: This image of a lemon shark was taken around dusk at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, aboard Jim Abernethy's boat, the M/V Shear Water. I liked the reflection of the shark on the underside of the water. The image was taken with a Nikon D2X, subal housing, and Inon strobes.

Judges' comments:
Kimmo Hagman: "Very dramatic image and its idea is interesting. The shot has a good balance between the lightning and the prevailing light above the surface. Dark clouds add suspense to the picture. A great third place. The small minus is the shark's bottom teeth, which were slightly out of focus."
Ralf Åström: "It's a very dramatic, if not frightening image, both in tone and theme. The photographer has proved to have nerves of steel while shooting this tiger shark. The reflection of the shark on the surface adds more intensity. This image could be even better on black and white."