In truth, we don’t often publish underwater photos. Not because they’re frivolous or hollow, but because they’re so hard to get. So few photographers have the knowledge and skill set to access remote parts of the ocean, to say nothing of the specialized and costly equipment. Which is why, when we do receive enchanting underwater images from our photographers in the field, we're eager to publish them.

Most of our top underwater shots of 2016 come from intrepid divers David Doubilet and Brian Skerry. Doubilet shot on assignment in Cuba’s offshore ecosystems. Skerry swam with sharks in the Bahamas. Other images came from unlikely places, including Charlie Hamilton James’s photographs of cutthroat trout and wild beavers in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.