Rockpool Rookies, by Australian photographer Matty Smith, was the recent overall winner of the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 competition. Taken in a shallow rockpool on Sealion Island in the Falklands, the split-level image captures two southern elephant seal pups during their earliest encounters with the sea.
Once weaned from their mother’s milk, elephant seal pups are abruptly left alone on shore to navigate life for themselves. Many gather in the island’s shallow rockpools, where they begin to take their first dip in the cold waters.
“I watched dozens of them clamber over one another in shallow rockpools, awkwardly learning to swim,” Smith said. “I’d come here for this moment, to witness and photograph their first solo lessons in life.”
The photograph came together on Smith’s first evening on the island. “The sky ignited with colour,” he said. “I donned my dry suit and rushed into the water, capturing a handful of frames before the light vanished.”
Photography by Matty Smith
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