UN World Oceans Day photography contest crowns winners from nine countries

The 13th annual UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition crowned winners from nine countries during the UN World Oceans Day event at UN Headquarters in New York, with a new “Connecting Oceans” category joining the lineup. Hundreds of amateur and professional photographers entered the free, public contest, but the frames that stood out were the ones that made the ocean feel immediate: dramatic underwater caves, playful wildlife behavior and scenes with a clear conservation edge.

That mix is exactly what has kept the competition relevant since Ellen Cuylaerts began curating it in 2014. The 2026 judging panel brought together underwater photographer Ipah Uid Lynn of Malaysia, underwater photographer William Tan of Singapore, underwater photographer Jane Morgan of the United Kingdom and dive publication founder Dave Alexander, also of the United Kingdom. Their selections pointed to a contest that still rewards clean technical execution, but increasingly leans toward images with a stronger story and a more distinct visual identity.

The competition’s structure reinforced that approach. It is coordinated by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, DivePhotoGuide, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and Nausicaá, and all winners and participants signed a charter of 14 commitments covering ethics in photography. That matters in a field where access, animal disturbance and editorial credibility can make or break a strong ocean image.

The timing also gave the photographs extra weight. UN World Oceans Day 2026 carried the theme “Reimagine,” and officials said the ocean is under pressure from climate change, overfishing, biodiversity loss and marine pollution, with multilateral action urgently needed. On the same day, the Third World Ocean Assessment was released, drawing on more than five years of work by 550 experts from 86 countries and adding hard scientific context to the visual celebration.

Seen together, the winning images were not just pretty underwater scenes. They reflected where ocean photography is moving now: toward work that can hold up as composition, but also still do the heavier job of showing fragility, behavior and scale.