2026 UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition Winners Announced
On June 8, 2026, winners of the 13th annual UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition were revealed at the UN Headquarters in New York City. Organized by DivePhotoGuide in collaboration with UN and UNESCO partners, the competition featured four categories. Valentina Cucchiara from Italy won first place in Connecting Oceans for her work titled "Cenote Nariz" in Mexico. The Big and Small Underwater Faces category was topped by Kaushiik Subramaniam from the UK for a photograph of a gray whale calf in Baja California Sur. Ysabela Coll from the Dominican Republic earned first place for Underwater Seascapes, while Bruce Sudweeks from the USA won Above Water Seascapes with his image of grizzly bear cubs on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Key facts
- Winners announced on June 8, 2026 at UN Headquarters in New York City
- 13th annual competition organized by DivePhotoGuide with UN and UNESCO partners
- Four categories: Connecting Oceans, Big and Small Underwater Faces, Underwater Seascapes, Above Water Seascapes
- Curated by Ellen Cuylaerts; judges included Ipah Uid Lynn, William Tan, Jane Morgan, Dave Alexander
- First place Connecting Oceans: Valentina Cucchiara (Italy) for Cenote Nariz, Mexico
- First place Big and Small Underwater Faces: Kaushiik Subramaniam (UK) for gray whale calf in Baja California Sur
- First place Underwater Seascapes: Ysabela Coll (Dominican Republic) for Mexican cenote garden
- First place Above Water Seascapes: Bruce Sudweeks (USA) for grizzly bear cubs on Kodiak Island, Alaska
Entities
Artists
- Valentina Cucchiara
- Kaushiik Subramaniam
- Ysabela Coll
- Bruce Sudweeks
- James Ferrara
- Wendy Mitchell
- Verona Chadwick
- Jeon Min-seok
- Bingqian Gao
- Eduardo Carrasco
- Miesa Grobbelaar
- Ellen Cuylaerts
- Ipah Uid Lynn
- William Tan
- Jane Morgan
- Dave Alexander
Institutions
- United Nations
- DivePhotoGuide
- United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea
- Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO
- Nausicaá
- My Modern Met
- Dive Photo Guide
- PetaPixel
- United Nations World Oceans Day
- Oceanic Global
- Forbes
Locations
- New York City
- United States
- Cenote Nariz
- Mexico
- Yucatán Peninsula
- Kingdom of Tonga
- Lake Huron
- North America
- Raja Ampat
- West Papua
- Indonesia
- Baja California Sur
- Anilao
- Philippines
- Tongyeong Beach
- South Korea
- Sea of Cortez
- Kodiak Island
- Alaska
- Blue Cypress Lake
- Florida
- Nusa Lembongan
- Bali
- Ceningan
- Italy
- United Kingdom
- Dominican Republic
- Australia
- Chile
- South Africa
- Tulum
- Ontario
- Canada
- Michigan
- Korea