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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

  • Mi experiencia submarina más memorablefue la primera inmersión nocturna que realice, la total oscuridad sólo iluminado por los focos y la cantidad de vida que hay que no se puede ver durante el día.
  • My most impressive encounter underwater so far was actually a multiple encounter with billions of sardines while free diving in a run of them in the Philippines. It was like being under a dark sky which was moving very fast around me. The darkness and this huge amount of fishes was as scary as beautiful. Luckily I had my old TG-3 with me and I could immortalise that magic moment in pictures and video :-).
  • Bonjour, 20 ans de plongée et 15 ans de photographies sous-marines avec des Olympus... Que du plaisir, que des belles photos. Merci Olympus !!! Un jour, aux Philippines, j'ai trouvé un Olympus noyé. Dans sa carte, ses derniers moments sur une plage avec une belle blonde que je ne rencontrerai jamais. Aventure inattendue mais magique d'une puce de silicium égarée.
  • De toutes mes sorties en tuba, je n'oublierai probablement jamais ma rencontre avec une pieuvre en Thailande. Grâce à mon TG-4 j'ai pu immortaliser ce moment et filmer l'extraordinaire camouflage de l'animal sur le fond marin !
  • My most impressive underwater encounter was when I was about 12 years old in the Caribbean in Antigua where you could swim with stingrays. I was scared at first and even know I was not in the water for too long, looking back at it, it was an amazing encounter with the stingrays :)
  • Super picture of a seal in Dunbar harbour; using Olympus Tough - above the surface - too cold for me !
  • I live with claustrophobia as far as I remember. I love swimming but for years only with the head above the water. I tried many times to change it but with no success. The change came suddenly .. it was in Palau. We went to see jellyfish lake , famous with millions of jellyfish.When I started to swim in the lake I could feel but no see them. The more I felt them the more I got crazy that I was not able to enjoy their look . I decided to place my head underwater at least for a seconf to see how they look like. What I saw under water was so amazing that I forgot about the fear.There were thousands of big ans small jelllyfish around me, touching me, swimming thorugh my hands and legs. It was so amazing to see this performance that I started to snorkle.Since that time I saw much beauty under water but I will never forget the meeting with fanstastic jellyfish..
  • My best moment underwater was the first time I dive with my dive instructor ,after i got my openwater. Feel the ingravity, go down to the dark and see it is not dark, it is blue and a lot of other colors, like i dreamt when i was a child,. Then, at last i was fliying like i did in my dreams. And the fishes !!, they surprised me, they were like families , and little cities, they teach me something every dive i did I cant forget that fantastic experience, and that was sixteen years ago. I love it so much. Mi mejor momento bajo el agua fué la primera vez que buceé. con mi instructor después de obtener mi título de openwater. Sentir la ingravidez, bajar a la oscuridad y comprobar que no es oscuro, el azul y un montón de otros colores, tal como lo soñé en mi infancia. Por fin estaba volando como en mis sueños. Y los peces!!! Ellos me sorprendieron, ellos eran como familias y pequeñas ciudades, ellos me enseñaban algo en cada buceo que yo hacía. No puedo olvidar esa fantástica experiencia , y aquello fué hace dieciséis años. Amo tanto bucear..
  • Ricordo con piacere la barriera corallina alle Fiji
  • If a coral counts as an underwater animal as well then the corals in Taba near the israelic border have been my most rememberable underwater experience :o)
  • My most impressive encounter underwater was in 2018 when snorkelling on the Maledives. We took an expedition with our family and saw many whale sharks. They came up the reef very close to the surface- so near we could have touched them. Of course we didn't! Very impressive, we will never forget these majestic giants.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous
    Having snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef and seeing the wonderful corals and inhabitants I was already happy with my encounter with turtles, Angel Fish and inquisitive and timid residents. Imagine my surprise when returning a whale was seen to breach the surface nearby. Could it get any better I asked myself when we saw that there were two whales. One an adult I assumed was mum and the other a calf. What was happening? She was showing him how to breach. For the next ten minutes I watched as the little calf breached, starting with clumsy splashes and developing into a full blown vertical breach. Pure magic!!
  • Ma première rencontre avec un requin-baleine, il y a une quinzaine d'années, à Cuba (Isla de la Juventud). Je ne faisais pas encore de photo sous-marine à l'époque, mais le souvenir est inoubliable !
  • I snorkeled in Isla Mujeres, Cancún, México, and it was really impressive as it was my furst time discovering the underwater. Lot of fishes, colours, life... Awesome!!

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