Announcing the Winners of the Tenth United Nations World Oceans Day Photo Contest
The winners of the 10th Annual Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day were announced on June 8th, 2023, during the UN World Oceans Day (UNWOD) 2023 event at the UN Headquarters in New York. The free competition, which launched this past March, explored the six thematic categories linked to the overarching 2023 theme: “Planet Ocean: Tides Are Changing.” World-renowned judges including wildlife photographer Rathika Ramasamy (India), wildlife photographer Rajan Desai (USA), underwater fine art wildlife photographer Ipah Uid Lynn (Malaysia), and photographer and filmmaker Antoine Janssens (Switzerland), selected first, second, and third place winners for the categories. Winners were selected from thousands of global entries made by both amateur and professional photographers.
The UN World Oceans Day event and the annual photo competition are hosted by the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs (DOALOS) in partnership with Oceanic Global and supported by Panerai, with contribution by Discover Earth and OceanX. The annual competition is curated by Ellen Cuylaerts, and coordinated with DPG, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and Nausicaa.
The 2023 winning photographers hail from 14 different countries. Their names include: Álvaro Herrero (Mekan), Simon Lorenz, Ines Goovaerts (“No Time to Waste”), Tom Shlesinger, Edwar Herreño Parra (“Putting the Ocean First”), Chris Gug, Sina Ritter, Alex Permiakov (“The Wonderful World of Tides”), Shane Gross, Niklas Manger, Rachel Moore (“Ocean Is Life”), Glenn Ostle, Simon Temple, Adriano Morettin (“Big and Small Underwater Faces”), Andy Schmid, Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins, Simon Biddie (“Underwater Seascapes”).
All participants signed a charter of 14 commitments regarding ethics in photography. The United Nations World Oceans Day Photo Competition is an ongoing tradition that calls on photographers and artists from around the world to communicate the beauty of the ocean and the importance of the respective UNWOD themes each year. Winning photos from past years can additionally be seen at www.unworldoceansday.org and on DPG’s World Oceans Day Photo Competition mini-site. (On DPG’s mini-site, you can find extended captions for this year’s winners, which tell the stories behind the images.)
No Time to Waste
No Time to Waste – Winner by Álvaro Herrero (Mekan) (Spain): Humpback whale, Pacific Ocean, Baja California, Mexico
No Time to Waste – 2nd Place by Simon Lorenz (Germany): Sea turtles, Sri Lanka
No Time to Waste – 3rd Place by Ines Goovaerts (Belgium): Ishëm River, Albania
Putting the Ocean First
Putting the Ocean First — Winner by Tom Shlesinger (Israel): Checking out a coral nursery, Gulf of Aqaba and Eilat, northern Red Sea
Putting the Ocean First — 2nd Place by Edwar Herreño Parra (Colombia): Full hands, Galápagos, Ecuador
Putting the Ocean First — 3rd Place by Edwar Herreño Parra (Colombia): Eyes on the future, Galápagos, Ecuador
The Wonderful World of Tides
The Wonderful World of Tides — Winner by Chris Gug (USA): High tide, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The Wonderful World of Tides — 2nd Place by Sina Ritter (Germany): Black sea turtle, Costa Rica
The Wonderful World of Tides — 3rd Place by Alex Permiakov (Russia): Sunset, Bali, Indonesia
The Wonderful World of Tides — Honorable Mention by Pavlos Evangelidis (Greece): Catch of the tide, Koggala, Sri Lanka
The Wonderful World of Tides — Honorable Mention by Nuria Costa (Spain): Marine iguana, Galápagos, Ecuador
Ocean Is Life
Ocean Is Life – Winner by Shane Gross (Canada): Gathering sea urchins, Bali, Indonesia
Ocean Is Life — 2nd Place by Niklas Manger (Germany): Humpback whales, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Ocean Is Life — 3rd Place by Rachel Moore (USA): Conservation of sharks, French Polynesia, France
Ocean Is Life — Honorable Mention by Galice Hoarau (France): Mouth-brooding cardinalfish, Siladen, Indonesia
Big and Small Underwater Faces
Big and Small Underwater Faces – Winner by Glenn Ostle (USA): California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), Sea of Cortez, Mexico
Big and Small Underwater Faces — 2nd Place by Simon Temple (UK): Loch Carron, Scotland, UK
Big and Small Underwater Faces — 3rd Place by Adriano Morettin (Italy): Soft coral porcelain crabs (Lissoporcellana quadrilobata), Indonesia
Underwater Seascapes
Underwater Seascapes — Winner by Andy Schmid (Switzerland): Female orca, Norway
Underwater Seascapes — 2nd Place by Mayumi Takeuchi-Ebbins (UK): Moon jellyfish, Alaska, USA
Underwater Seascapes — 3rd Place by Simon Biddie (UK): California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), Los Islotes, Mexico
Underwater Seascapes — Honorable Mention by Fan Ping (China): Cenote The Pit, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico