Falmouth Graduate Wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award
Aaron Sanders – A Watchful Eye
Credit: Aaron Sanders / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A former BA (Hons) Marine and Natural History Photography student at Falmouth University has won a prestigious award in the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, with a stunning underwater photograph taken right here in Cornwall.
Aaron Sanders has won the Animal Portraits category with A Watchful Eye, an intimate portrait of a common octopus peering around a blade of kelp at Porthkerris Beach. Aaron spotted the octopus’s suckers through the kelp before its eye slowly appeared, creating a beautifully framed encounter with one of the UK’s most fascinating marine creatures.
His achievement is particularly impressive given the scale of this year’s competition, which attracted a record-breaking 65,403 entries from photographers across 121 countries and territories. Organised by the Natural History Museum in London, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is now in its 62nd year and celebrates exceptional wildlife photography from around the world.
And Aaron’s success didn’t stop there. His photograph Ghosts in the Net was also Highly Commended in the Oceans: The Bigger Picture category. Taken in Indonesia’s remote Forgotten Islands, the haunting image shows a shark entangled in discarded fishing net, highlighting the devastating impact of lost fishing gear on marine life.
To receive both a category win and a Highly Commended recognition in the same year is a remarkable achievement for the former Falmouth University Marine and Natural History Photography student.
Underwater Photography Takes Centre Stage
Aaron wasn’t the only photographer celebrating success beneath the waves.
Renowned underwater photographer Tony Wu won the Underwater category with Making Morays, an extraordinary image documenting the courtship behaviour of Abbott’s moray eels in Japan. His work with biologists is helping reveal previously undocumented aspects of the species’ reproductive behaviour.
Credit: Tony Wu / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Meanwhile, Alex Lindbloom won the Oceans: The Bigger Picture category with Night-Time Catch, capturing a whale shark investigating the catch of a traditional fishing platform off Papua, Indonesia.
Image credit: Alex Lindbloom / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Overall Winners Announced
The prestigious overall title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 went to Italian photographer Federico Veronesi for The Aftermath, a poignant black-and-white photograph of an elephant carrying a deceased calf in Namibia.
The image offers a rare and moving glimpse into the complex behaviour of elephants surrounding death.
The Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 title was awarded to Oscar Whitfield for Labour of Love, a striking photograph of a dung beetle pushing its precious cargo through the dust in Zimbabwe.
Winning Images on Display in London
All 100 winning and highly commended photographs will feature in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, opening at the Natural History Museum in London on Friday 16 October 2026.
The exhibition runs until 11 July 2027, offering visitors the chance to discover extraordinary wildlife encounters and the stories behind the photographs.
For Aaron, the award is a fantastic achievement and another reminder of the incredible marine life waiting to be discovered around the Cornish coastline.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.
Find out more and book tickets for the exhibition:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year.html
Source: Natural History Museum, Natural History Museum.
