The blue whale – the largest animal that has ever lived and lives on our blue planet. With unimaginable, exorbitant dimensions. Sighting such an animal underwater is a moment that can change a diver's entire life. When the silhouette of this sea giant becomes visible in the deep and endless blue, it feels like a freight train is passing by us tiny humans.

In mystical light, spearfishers hunt for small reef fish and fishermen check their traditional fish traps, called bubu, at the surface of the ocean. Alors fishermen definitely have a deep connection to the sea, and their fishing techniques, passed down from generation to generation, reflect the authenticity and uniqueness of Alor.

Welcome to the wild South of Indonesia. Divespots that literally make the colours around us explode. Reef tops shrouded in clouds of schooling fish. A few breaths further and we glide like a roller coaster through gardens of hard and soft corals, a wonderful chaos of colours and structures. This is diving in Alor!

This year's World Oceans Day is particularly significant. 2025 is a crucial year for the oceans, a year of deadlines and milestones. Important international marine agreements and treaties have been concluded, which will hopefully be implemented this year. It is definitely time to remind ourselves again and again of the fragile state of our oceans – and that is what this special day is all about.

Photographing birds at just the right moment is no easy task. Lucky are those who can rely on "Pro Capture" technology. With it OM SYSTEM makes it easy to capture birds in their desired flight position. With our OM 1 MKII and Pro Capture mode, even a simple bird portrait can so be transformed into something extraordinary.

Sashimi shrimp next to Cyerce Nigra, leopard shrimp alongside Melibe Colemani, and chocolate shrimp close to Pontohi pygmy seahorses — this is Romblon. Here, in the diving areas around the Three P Dive Resort, macro madness reigns supreme. Amidst a mega-biodiversity of macro- and micro-organisms, every underwaterphotographer's dream comes true.