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The World Oceans Day 2019

Gender and Ocean – how are these two connected? Not at all – you might think. Quite much, however, is the answer. Gender and Ocean is this year’s topic for the World Oceans Day. Celebrate this day with us, find out more about why the world’s oceans are so impressive and
take part in a fantastic raffle.

Each year on the 8th of June, people all over the world celebrate the ocean and try their best to change its story. In doing so, they celebrate each and every life on this wonderful planet. Because no matter where you are and no matter how far you might be situated from any coastline, you are somehow connected to the ocean.

Why?

The oceans are the lifeblood of our planet and the source of all life. Not only do they hold over 95% of the planet’s water, they produce more than half of the oxygen in our atmosphere, are said to be important for 50% of the breaths we take and absorb a lot of carbon. But there’s more to it.

 Ann Karin Matberg • OM-D E-M1 • M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye 
• PT-EP11 • PPO-EP02 • 2 x UFL-3

In many ways, the ocean acts as a regulator of our climate. By soaking up the heat and transporting water of different temperatures all over the planet, it regulates the weather, the temperatures as well as rains and droughts in many places and it makes most parts habitable by keeping the balance. And speaking about habitation – the ocean does not only help to make our planet such a great home to us, it is also a home to the greatest abundance of life including some of the smallest and some of the biggest creatures there are. From critter to whales – there is a variety of life in the oceans that is hard to imagine from ashore and that we can only do our best to partly capture with our lenses.

Gender and Ocean - The oceans also provide us with food. That goes hand in hand with the fact that they create many jobs – not only for fishermen. From tourism and transport to water sports businesses: many industries and jobs are highly connected to and dependent on the ocean – and its condition. And it goes without saying that a (commercial) world – and our supermarkets – are quite hard to imagine without ocean freight.

Marcin Dobas – Exciting encounter with steller sea lions

Marcin Dobas • OM-D E-M1 Mark II • M.Zuiko Digital ED 8mm F1.8 PRO
• PT-EP-14 • PPO-EP02 • UFL-3

For many divers, underwater encounters with marine mammals are an unforgettable experience. Whenever I meet a dolphin, a seal or an eared seal (Otariidae), I am sure that I have just met an incredibly intelligent creature which enjoys our encounter as much as I do.
The goal of my last photographic diving expedition was the coat of Kamchatka coast. To some of you, this idea may seem absurd. Everyone who starts diving dreams about the warm waters of the South Seas, the sun, the coral reefs and orange clownfish playing in the water.
The water around the peninsula of Kamchatka, however, is cold, the visibility is not good and the biodiversity is limited. So – why go there? […]

Read the whole story


Juan José Sáez Méndez - The great white shark

 Juan José Saéz • OM-D E-M1 Mark II • M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 PRO
• PT-EP14 • PPO-E04 • 2 x UFL-3

On my second trip to Guadeloupe I wanted to capture the behaviour of the great white shark in my pictures. With the help of my results as well as the information provided by the scientists who work with these animals, I wanted to explain or rather express the importance that these special animals have in the ecosystem and show what is being done to protect them. 

The great white shark is an alpha predator that is at the top of the food chain and that, in theory, should not be at risk because it has barely any natural predators. Unfortunately, the great white shark is still on the red list of the worldwide endangered species due to direct or accidental catches in fishing nets, the constant pollution of the seas and the warming or narrowing of their natural habitat. This makes us humans their main predator. […]

Read the whole story

Karin Brussard  - Dolphins – my experience after waiting for 20 years!

 Karin Brussard • OM-D E-M1 MarkII • M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm F2.0
• PT-EP14 • PPO-E02

In the 20 years that I’ve been diving, I’ve taken a lot of photos; from seahorses measuring a mere centimetre to swimming elephants. But I’ve never encountered a dolphin. Until now.For this mission, we chose to search in a large area in the Bahamas which is home to around twenty dolphins. Everyone on the boat was on the lookout. As the hours passed, my hopes began to fade once again. There wasn’t a single dolphin fin to be seen across the wide expanse of water. My attention wandered after just two seconds, I gave up and went to do something else. […]

Read the whole story

What’s your story? 

To celebrate this very special day with you, we have prepared a raffle for you.
As first prize you can win a brand new TG-6 with its Underwater Case.
Second prize is the cool Tough Adventure Pack and the
Third prize is a practical H2O drink bottle


What to do:

  1. If you are not signed up yet as a MyOlympus user, quickly click here, register and refresh your browser or click here after having signed up. In case you are already signed up, log in here and you will get back to this page.
  2. Like this blogpost and think about your most impressive animal encounter/underwater experience so far.
  3. Write a short comment under this blogpost in which you describe this experience
    until June 22th, 2019. --> raffle is closed !


Please view our Terms & Conditions

Thank you very much for your participation.
Your Olympus Underwater Photography World

Comments

  • A scary one... body boarding on the French West Coast Atlantic. Brisk wind, high waves. Just learning this when a monster wave fell on top of me and pushed me all the way down to the bottom, In moments, laying in the sand and pushed around... Rolling over the bottom in a cloud of dust, loosing any sense of direction and the necessary daylight... Controlling panic and breathing as long as possible I started seeing daylight and followed it to the surface... The ocean is beautiful and full of surprises, some dangerous!
  • My most memorable underwater experience was in Malta watching a multitude of small but colourful fish.
  • Ich wohne an der Ostsee und sehe es als nichts besonderes, dort zu baden und zu schnorcheln. Und dann vor 20 Jahren der erste Tauchurlaub im Roten Meer. Dies war mein besonderes Erlebnis. Das gesamte Biotop tauchend zu erleben. Damals nur mit einer einfachen Unterwasserkamera mit 36-er Film und eingebautem Blitz dokumentiert, welch ein technischer Unterschied zu Heute!
  • Il mondo sott’acqua ha dei colori che mai avrei immaginato di vedere. Un incanto!!!
  • In 1947 as a youngster in Courtown Co. Wexford was swimming in the sea during late September, dived and saw a seahorse. To that date as far we were concerned a seahorse was a mythical creature seen only in fairytale books. No underwater cameras in those days!!!
  • My most impressive marine encounter (so far...) was off the coast of North-West Scotland. We went out on a glass-bottomed boat and in the space of two hours had seen Harbour Seals, rare Grey Seals, Puffins, a pair of Bottlenose Dolphins, and the highlight of my trip, a mother Minke Whale & her pup! My dream would be to travel the world, photographing marine animals and highlighting how we must act now to protect their (and our) environment.
  • While deep water diving at just over 40m in the Mediterranean off Ibiza in 1991 the importance of diving in pairs became all too apparent when my breathing apparatus failed. Thanks to my buddy I’m still here to remember it well. NEVER dive alone. Happy (safe) diving and snapping everyone.
  • Je fais beaucoup de formation et ce que je préfère par-dessus tout, c’est faire découvrir ce merveilleux terrain de jeu qu’est la mer à mes élèves. Pour les premières immersions, j’emporte toujours mon TG4 afin d’immortaliser l’instant et offrir à mes clients un superbe souvenir de leur immersion.
  • I've a couple of encounters I found most memorable - kayaking off the coast of mull with my brother - seeing a shimmer of silver pass underneath me then a loud snort and a exclamation of shock as a pod of dolphins emerged and spat through their blow holes over my brother. I was also in a RIB just off the Suitors near the Cromarty firth when I spotted a massive basking shark. Having my camera to hand I placed it in the water and got a magnificently murky shot of it's silhouette approaching thought the gloom.
  • My most impressive experience underwater was in Majorca in 2014 - the first time I tried snorkelling and discovered an underwater world so close everyone swimming in the sea, but so wonderful. I couldn't wait to get in every day of that holiday and have enjoyed many more trips since.
  • My most memorable encounter was seeing a number of cave shrimp while swimming across a deep pool underground and looking into the depth deep underground
  • My most impressive animal encounter happened a few years ago while i was cycling. I was cycling on a road, enjoying the beautiful sunny weather... And all of a sudden i saw a black figure on the road, i thought to myself.. "wierd, why is there such a huge rock on the road.." as i got closer.. i was surprised.. slightly panicked..it was a bear.. i was shocked.. i turned my bicycle round and started riding it as fast as i could, while keeping an eye on whats happening behind me.. i got lucky.. the bear did't follow. That year i met a wild bear twice.. once while on a bicycle and once while driving a car.. what a year.
  • I got the most unforgettable feeling associated with diving into the sea, when I bathed at night in the full moon in August in the water saturated with phosphorescent microorganisms. My whole body glowed and glittered like a diamond. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The feeling of delight comes every time I remember this case.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous
    My most impressive encounter underwater was in the early 90s, snorkelling in the Maldives. Our boat stopped near a shallow coral reef and shoals of multicoloured fish swam just below us. Then I saw my first green sea turtle, swimming along the reef before going deeper.
  • Wish I'd had a camera like this when, as a not very confident swimmer, I discovered just what an amazing world lies so close to shore when I spent a week by the Red Sea.

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