World Oceans Day 2023,10TH Annual Photo Competition

In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly decided that, as of 2009, June 8th would be designated by the United Nations as “World Oceans Day.” They recognize that our oceans are essential to securing food and the survival of all life on planet Earth. They power our climate and they are a critical part of the biosphere.

World Oceans Day encourages you to make a difference in your life, in your community, and in the world by taking action to protect our ocean—for present and future generations. Despite the huge challenges facing the world’s oceans such as plastic pollution, overfishing, and climate change, by working together we can achieve a healthier ocean that will provide for the billions of humans, plants, and animals that depend on it every day.

Photography is a powerful medium to convey a feeling or a message. This open and free photo competition seeks to inspire the creation of imagery capturing the beauty, the challenges, and the importance of the ocean and humankind’s relation to it, hoping to contribute to actions to preserve this vital resource.

The photo competition has six thematic categories open for submissions:

1. No Time to Waste
   Both human and naturally inflicted stressors on the ocean are driving the urgent need for stakeholder action. From out-of-control algal blooms to red tides and discarded fishing gear, images of damage inflicted on the ocean, or how ocean stressors are being mitigated/solved. Submissions for this category require a set of three images.
2. Putting the Ocean First
   Exploration, discoveries, and initiatives prioritizing the health of the ocean for now and for the future, including innovation and sustainable solutions.
3. The Wonderful World of Tides
   Images that explore the wonderful worlds of tides, and how nature adapts to changing environments, are evident in tides and their daily (as well as sometimes multi-daily) rise and fall. Tides are thin lines between land and ocean that provide images of topside or underwater, macro or wide angle.
4. Ocean Is Life
   From seagrass creating oxygen to sustainable fisheries providing food. This category captures the known, the unknown, and the overlooked. Any image depicting the connection of the ocean to sustaining all life on Earth. Oceans as a lifeline.
5. Big and Small Underwater Faces
   Portraits of marine life underwater feature face big and/or small to help personalize the world beneath the waves.
6. Underwater Seascapes
   Awe-inspiring underwater seascapes of the ocean’s splendors, from life in the ocean to ecosystems and exchanges we don’t typically see, anything that inspires beauty, promise, or potential. A minimum of 50% should be taken underwater, also allowing half-above-water and half-below-water shots.