Are you counting down the minutes to Shark Week? We don't blame you! To help you get ready for the main event, Scuba Diving magazine has compiled a gallery of some of our favorite shark photos from our 2014 Through Your Lens Underwater Photo Contest. These apex predators may look fearsome, as Shark Week looms near, keep in mind that these beautiful animals need our protection, education and respect.

For facts about sharks, conservation tips and more, click HERE.

He was this big!

Photo by Ron Watkins

A graceful nine-foot-long blue shark glides through the waters off Southern California as a free diver gets a close look and marvels at the shark's beauty.

Location: Long Beach, CA

Category: Wide-Angle

Metallic Oceanic

Photo by Ken Kiefer

An oceanic whitetip shark glides gracefully in front of a cinematographer.

Location: Cat Island, Bahamas

Category: Divers

Lord of the Long Hands

Photo by Jett Britnell

Famed undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau referred to the oceanic whitetip shark as being the “Lord of the Long Hands” due to its long pectoral fins.

Location: Cat Island, Bahamas

Category: Wide-Angle

Caribbean Reef Shark

Photo by Goos van der Heide

Caribbean Reef Shark

Location: Bahamas

Category: Wide-Angle

Great White Shark Surfacing

Photo by Alex Suh

This photo was taken as the great white shark was surfacing and backlit by beautiful sun rays. The photographer was out of the cage.

Location: Isla Guadalupe, Mexico

Category: Wide-Angle

Great White Shark

Photo by Jeffrey Howery

Image taken of a great white shark cruising by the cage, a few feet below the surface. The light shining down through the ripples in the water created a striped pattern on the shark.

Location: Guadalupe, Mexico

Category: Wide-Angle

Clean-Up Time

Photo by Jett Britnell

A lemon shark resting on the seafloor with its jaws agape, allowing a remora to clean it.

Location: Tiger Beach, Bahamas

Category: Behavior

Of Shark and Man

Photo by Heidi DeRosa

A diver takes in the view of the intriguing great hammerhead shark.

Location: Bimini, Bahamas

Category: Divers

The Thresher Shark

Photo by Taiki Sakai

Monad Shoal off Malapascua Island in the Philippines is one of the only places in the world where you can regularly see thresher sharks. We dropped down just as the sun was rising and found this large shark at a cleaning station.

Location: Malapascua, Philippines

Category: Wide-Angle

Lemon Shark

Photo by Joanne Boutilier

There are tons of these beautiful lemon sharks at Tiger Beach. They might look scary, but they are quite calm.

Location: Tiger Beach, Bahamas

Category: Behavior

Ready for My Closeup

Photo by Ken Kiefer

A beautiful tiger shark gets close to a photographer's dome port. Her nictitating membrane rolls in anticipation of contact.

Location: Tiger Beach, Bahamas

Category: Behavior

La Verdesca (Blue Shark)

Photo by Filippo Borghi

A blue shark patrols the surface.

Location: Portogallo (Portugal)

Category: Wide-Angle

The Observer

Photo by Nicholas Samaras

A lemon shark on patrol.

Location: Tiger Beach, Bahamas

Category: Wide-Angle

Smile for the Camera

Photo by Rasmus Raahauge

My dream came true when I got the opportunity to swim outside of the cage with these magnificent sharks, the great white. The picture here, though, shows the provoked behavior you get when shooting from the cage.

Location: Isla Guadulaupe, Mexico

Category: Wide-Angle

Head On

Photo by Ken Kiefer

An oceanic whitetip shark finning straight toward me for closer inspection.

Location: Cat Island, Bahamas

Category: Wide Angle