News
PRESS RELEASE
March 1, 2008 is the deadline for entries in the 11th
annual Underwater Images Photo/Video competition. Underwater Images is a non
profit corporation registered in the State of Ohio with all proceeds from this competition
going to marine conservation, educational, and scholarship purposes. For complete details on eligibility, rules,
and entry forms visit the official competition website.
Categories include "Conservation",
"Majestic", "Togetherness", "Macro (Open &
Novice)", "Wide Angle (Open & Novice)", a "video"
category, and a new category added this year entitled “Divers and Marine
Creatures.” In announcing this new
category, Roger Roth, competition founder and director, stated that “This
category fits well with a new beneficiary this year and that is The Diveheart
Foundation.”
Although based in Ohio, this competition is international and
the prizes also reflect an international flare.
Included among the Best of Show and First Prize awards will be dive
trips to Papua New Guinea,
Honduras,
the Solomon Islands,
the Cayman Islands, Hawaii and Indonesia. In addition there are
numerous awards of diving equipment and gift certificates from sponsors.
The major
international charities that the Underwater Images Competition has supported
for over a decade include WildCoast, Pro
Peninsula, and Mahonia Na
Dari. WildCoast and ProPeninsula are
conservation organizations dedicated to empowering communities in Baja California,
Mexico to
protect and preserve their environment, with their main focuses being on a Sea
Turtle Conservation Network which has gained international attention. Mahonia Na Dari (“Guardians of the Sea”) is a
Nature Conservancy non-profit group, which has been working to protect Papua New Guinea's
abundant biodiversity by teaching their own instructors and students the
importance of sustainability of their own natural resources through hands-on
experiences. Since 1998 Underwater
Images has contributed significantly to each of these organizations.
The Best of Show
prize in the competition will be a trip for two to Walindi Plantation for two
days, a seven-day cruise on the MV FeBrina, and another two days at Walindi
Plantation following the FeBrina cruise! The Walindi Plantation Resort and the
MV FeBrina liveaboard are based out of Kimbe Bay
in Papua New Guinea.
A partial list of
other prize sponsors includes: Bilikiki Cruises Ltd. in the Solomon Islands,
Loloata Island Resort in PNG, Anthony's
Key / Bahia Tours in the Bay Islands of Honduras, DiveTech and Cobalt Coast
Resort of Grand Cayman, Nekton Cruises, Wakatobi and Pelagian Dive
Resort, Kungkungan Bay Resort and Tasik Ria Resort in
North Sulawesi, SMY Ondina, Kararu and Archipelago Resorts & Fleet in
Indonesia.
Manufacturers who
have consistently supported the competition include: Ikelite, Diving Unlimited
International, ReefNet, Aqua Lung, Sherwood/Akona, Exploration Design, Omega
Aquatics, Gates Video Housings and Pinnacle Aquatics.
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