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The winners of the 13th annual Photo Competition for United Nations World Oceans Day are announced today during the UN World Oceans Day (UNWOD) event at the UN Headquarters in New York. A panel of world-renowned judges selected winners from hundreds of global entries made by both amateur and professional photographers. This year’s competition featured the recurring categories “Big and Small Underwater Faces,” “Underwater Seascapes,” and “Above Water Seascapes,” as well as a new category “Connecting Oceans.”

The 2026 winning photographers hail from nine different countries: 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 photo competition 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 competition has been curated by underwater and wildlife photographer Ellen Cuylaerts, and judged by a world-renowned panel of judges. The judges for 2026 were: 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 competition that calls on photographers and artists from around the world to communicate the beauty of the ocean and the importance of the respective United Nations World Oceans Day theme each year. All winners and participants in the competition signed a charter of 14 commitments regarding ethics in photography. DPG’s World Oceans Day Photo Competition mini-site features the winning photos with extended captions that tell the stories behind the images.

Connecting Oceans
 

Connecting Oceans — Winner by Valentina Cucchiara (Italy)
 

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

Connecting Oceans — 3rd 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 — 3rd 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 — 3rd 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 — 3rd Place by Miesa Grobbelaar (South Africa/Australia)