RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., Sept. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Together, PADI ^® and Scuba Diving ^® magazine have announced the winners of their 18th annual Through Your Lens photo contest, which drew in nearly 2,600 entries from around the world.

"The submissions for our 2022 Through Your Lens photo contest have exceeded our expectations," says Andy Leisner, Chief Consumer Officer of PADI Worldwide, the publisher of Scuba Diving magazine. "The imagery in this annual collection of underwater photography is outstanding, unique, and captures what a very small portion of the global population has had the opportunity to experience: the other stunning 70% of our watery planet."

This year's grand prize winner is Boz Johnson, whose striking nighttime image of a flying fish gliding just below the surface highlights the magic of the underwater world and the beauty worth protecting. Through Your Lens is the first photo Johnson ever entered, and he took home $1,000 from  Scuba Diving  magazine and a liveaboard trip aboard the  BVI Aggressor  from Aggressor Adventures.

The prize-winning images in the four contest categories—macro, wide-angle, behavior, and compact camera—include: ice-diving a whale carcass, a perch eating another perch, a moray eel opening its mouth for a teeth cleaning from a bluestreak wrasse, a diver exploring the shallows of a Mexican cenote on a sunny day, a whale shark at night, an octopus mother tending her eggs, and a black and white shrimp.

The first-place winner for each of the specified categories also received the week-long Aggressor Adventures liveaboard trip, the second-place winners a SCUBAPRO regulator, and the third-place winners a SeaLife light or underwater smartphone housing accessory. Select winners will also be given the opportunity to have their photos featured on PADI certification cards.

"We are on a mission to encourage more people to experience, explore and protect our shared blue planet, with the 2022 Through Your Lens images playing a powerful role in sparking positive ocean change," continues Leisner.

To check out this year's collection of winning photos, visit scubadiving.com/worlds-best-underwater-photos. To inquire about reproducing winning images, please contact edit@padi.com.

PADI ® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors ®) is the largest purpose-driven diving organization with a global community of 6,600 dive centers and resorts, 128,000 professional members and more than 29 million certified divers to date. Committed to our blue planet, PADI makes the wonder of the underwater world accessible to all, empowering people around the world to experience, explore and take meaningful action, as Ocean Torchbearersâ„¢, to protect the world beneath the surface. For over 50 years, PADI is undeniably The Way the World Learns to Dive ®, setting the standard for the highest quality dive training, underwater safety and conservation initiatives while evolving the sport of diving into a passionate lifestyle. For divers by divers, PADI is obsessed with transforming lives and, with its global foundation, PADI AWAREâ„¢, creating positive ocean change. Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean. ^SM  www.padi.com

Scuba Diving ® magazine, the official publication of PADI Clubâ„¢, serves as a forum in which all divers, regardless of skill level, geographic location, age, sex or race, see themselves represented. As the preeminent source for all things dive, the magazine reflects the conversations and interests of everyday divers, showcasing world-class photography, unbiased product reviews and inspirational stories.  Scuba Diving  digs into what we love about the sport and gives new divers experiences to reach for, and veteran divers ideas of where to go next. scubadiving.com