A diver dressed in a Santa Claus costume performs with sardines at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, December 9, 2015. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Without the use of any type of scuba equipment, divers descend to great depths armed with underwater guns, harpoons and strong line to stalk and hunt prey. Some of the best free-divers in the world can hold their breath for up to 5 minutes under water and go to depths greater than 100 feet.

(All photography © Eyeconic Images.)

Human Connection Award: People and Planet Ocean – Winner – Steve Woods. A free diver interacts with a sperm whale among a cloud of sargassum weed, Dominica. (Photo by Steve Woods/Ocean Photographer of the Year 2022)

Divers perform underwater “Flying Apsaras” dance at Nanjing Underwater World on September 20, 2023 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by Yang Bo/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Keen diver Yusuke Fukami fulfilled a personal dream by snapping a cartoon-like Costasiella sea slug while in Bali in the last decade of December 2024. (Photo by Yusuke Fukami/South West News Service)

This jaw-dropping footage shows one brave diver getting up close and personal with a group of sharks as he feeds them a long-awaited meal. Ken Kiefer from Houston, Texas captured his friend, Jake, reaching right into the mouth of a hammerhead. (Photo by Ken Kiefer/Caters News Agency)

Mongolian Chinese performs a traditional Chinese dance in front of the Olympic Rings located near the National Stadium, the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan July 29 2021. (Photo by Androniki Christodoulou/Reuters)

Flag bearers Bunpichmorakat Kheun and Sokong Pen of Team Cambodia during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)