Asserting the Winners of the thirteenth United Nations World Oceans Day Photo Contest

The winners of the thirteenth annual Photo Competition for United Nations World Oceans Day are introduced as we speak throughout the UN World Oceans Day (UNWOD) occasion on the UN Headquarters in New York. A panel of world-renowned judges chosen winners from a whole lot of world entries made by each beginner {and professional} photographers. This yr’s competitors featured the recurring classes “Big and Small Underwater Faces,” “Underwater Seascapes,” and “Above Water Seascapes,” in addition to a brand new class “Connecting Oceans.”

The 2026 successful photographers hail from 9 totally different international locations: Valentina Cucchiara (Italy) and James Ferrara (USA) (“Connecting Oceans”); Kaushiik Subramaniam (UK), Verona Chadwick (Australia), Jeon Min-seok (South Korea) (“Big and Small Underwater Faces”); Ysabela Coll (Dominican Republic), Bingqian Gao (UK/China), Eduardo Carrasco (Chile) (“Underwater Seascapes”); Bruce Sudweeks (USA), James Ferrara (USA), Miesa Grobbelaar (South Africa/Australia) (“Above Water Seascapes”).

The 2026 photograph competitors was coordinated in collaboration between the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, DPG, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and Nausicaá. Since its inception in 2014, the competitors has been curated by underwater and wildlife photographer Ellen Cuylaerts, and judged by a world-renowned panel of judges. The judges for 2026 had been: underwater photographer Ipah Uid Lynn (Malaysia), underwater photographer William Tan (Singapore), underwater photographer Jane Morgan (UK), and dive publication founder Dave Alexander (UK).

The Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day is a free-and-open public competitors that calls on photographers and artists from all over the world to speak the fantastic thing about the ocean and the significance of the respective United Nations World Oceans Day theme every year. All winners and individuals within the competitors signed a constitution of 14 commitments relating to ethics in images. DPG’s World Oceans Day Photo Competition mini-site options the successful photographs with prolonged captions that inform the tales behind the photographs.

 

Connecting Oceans

Connecting Oceans — Winner by Valentina Cucchiara (Italy)

 

Connecting Oceans — 2nd Place by James Ferrara (USA)

 

Connecting Oceans — third Place by James Ferrara (USA)

 

Connecting Oceans — Honorable Mention by Wendy Mitchell (Australia)

 

Big and Small Underwater Faces

Big and Small Underwater Faces – Winner by Kaushiik Subramaniam (UK)

 

Big and Small Underwater Faces — 2nd Place by Verona Chadwick (Australia)

 

Big and Small Underwater Faces — third Place by Jeon Min-seok (South Korea)

 

Underwater Seascapes

Underwater Seascapes — Winner by Ysabela Coll (Dominican Republic)

 

Underwater Seascapes — 2nd Place by Bingqian Gao (UK/China)

 

Underwater Seascapes — third Place by Eduardo Carrasco (Chile)

 

Above Water Seascapes

Above Water Seascapes – Winner by Bruce Sudweeks (USA)

 

Above Water Seascapes — 2nd Place by James Ferrara (USA)

 

Above Water Seascapes — third Place by Miesa Grobbelaar (South Africa/Australia)