Congratulations to this year's Mundus maris Awardees selected from 61 submissions from 10 countries by the international jury. The theme chosen by the UN for this year's World Ocean Day was "The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods". The theme allowed for a wide variety of vistas. We invited submissions in the form stories, poems, paintings and video divided into age groups to account for different life stages. Covid may have reduced the numbers of contributions, but certainly not the quality.
The top Sea Lion prizes went to two Italian submissions which enthused the jury: Valeria Mariani of Ascoli Piceno studying at the European Manga Academy won in the age group 19+ for still visuals. She accompanied her work with this explanation:
"The reason why I made this illustration concerns precisely the relationship between man and sea, a relationship that today is no longer one of mutual respect. The ocean has always given us so much and now it seems that man can do nothing but ask more and more, giving in exchange only pollution and destruction of an already fragile ecosystem such as the marine one. I chose the Hokusai Wave as it is one of the most famous sea views in the world, which however appears marred by the reckless consequences of human life and by one of the most tragic disasters of recent times, the fire of the Deepwater Horizon platform."
The second Sea Lion Prize went to Paolo Bottoni from Rome, in the 19+ age group for text submissions. His story of the Trevi Fountain builds a connection between fine arts, ingeneering, the people, the sea and the land. The fountain is visited by millions of people every year, who drop their coins as a token to come back to the marvel, but few know the story. So, click on the link above to discover more to know about it and see the fountain with a fresh appreciation during your next visit or on pictures, be grateful for the gifts of the ocean and for the artists creating awe inspiring art work of any type about it, including music.
We are gratefully acknowledging that Paolo Bottoni donated the 200€ prize money to the CENTRE SIKATI DE MINGO’O, a school set up by the local civil society group WOPA, 75 km away from coastal Kribi, Cameroon. The centre offers at least basic literacy and numeracy education to pygmy children, who do not have access to public schools. They had heard about Mundus maris Awards contest, but could not make it to participate for dramatic lack of means. Thanks for this generous gesture. The prize has been transferred on 8 June. We hope that such practical solidarity finds many copy cats.
Joshua Garofil, 18 years, from Los Baños, Philippines, was awarded a Turtle Prize for his drawing with positive messenging.
Ronnel Pamulaklakin Forte, 17 years, also from Los Baños, also bagged a Turtle Prize for his drawing below.
Little Liza Britanie NJOKEP MALOUM, 8 years, from Cameroon convinced the jury with her poem
Océan Océan
Je suis si petite
Et toi océan
Immense tu es
Bleu tu es
Beau tu es
Unique tu es
Malheureusement pour toi
Ils te polluent sans penser à demain
Tes glaciers disparaissent chaque jour
Ta faune et ta flore ne vivront pas toujours
Mais quand tu manifestes ta colère
Tu deviens destructeur et meurtrier
Ah ! Océan, finalement tu es si mystérieux !
English translation of
Ocean, Ocean
I am so small
And you ocean
Huge you are
Blue you are
Beautiful you are
Unique you are
Unfortunately for you
They pollute you without thinking about tomorrow
Your glaciers are disappearing every day
Your flora and fauna will not always live
But when you show your anger
You become a destroyer and a murderer
Ah! Ocean, finally you are so mysterious!
Four video entries also won Turtle Prizes:
Valentina Ruiz-Leotaud, 37 years, submitted a video on fisheries management on behalf of the Sea Around Us Project
Capítulo de Geoético del Sur de Chile submitted two interesting videos. The group is composed of Nicolás Alonso Espinoza Tapia, Leandro César Ledezma Durán, Adriana Belén Rivera Murton, Fernando Nicolás Jacob Valenzuela Morales and their mentor Prof. Sandor Mulsow of the Universidad Austral de Chile. Click on the link to view "Océano" and "Minería marina" on the Mundus maris YouTube channel.
The group of Lagos State University offered a racy piece for ocean protection "Aje Olokun " (Wealth of the ocean). The six students and their mentor are: Akanbi Adeyemi Micheal, Ogundimu Fatimoh, Nkwor Precious, Adenekan Obadare, Adigun Mercy, Olamide Agbe-Davies, Dr. Hammed M.A.
Shark Prizes go to Prince-Will Achu for his ocean video and to Princess Flora Achu, 22 years, for her short story about boys from Limbe on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea, both from Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Samba and Kumba are the mascots of Mundus maris. The jury awarded Samba and Kumba Encouragement Prizes to the following authors:
In the age group up to 12 years, Suvexa Banerjee, 11 years, from the Amanora School, Pune, Maharashtra State, India, and Hélène Astride Ewono Onana, 12 years, from Ecole bilingue l'Orchidée, Douala, Cameroon convinced with their artistic visuals.
In the age group 13 to 18 years, the text of Kelvin Momanyi, 16 years, from Kenya and the poem by Yumi Perez, 12 years, from the Philippines got the awards.
The fisherman's letter to Her Ocean Majesty was written by Yumi Perez, Los Baños, Philippines.
Six authors were selected in the narrative 19+ age group: four writing in English
Mia Cecilia Großmann, 19 years, from Germany for her text titled "Our unquenchable hunger for more",
Jude Efetobor, 22 years, and Irene Etta, 21 years, both of the Federal College for Fisheries and Marine Technology in Victoria Island, Nigeria
Asha Mohammed, 21 years, from Mombasa, Kenya, for her text "The Kai",
and two writing in French
Juliette Nguedjio Njanang, 30 years, from Yaoundé, Cameroon and volunteering with the Bénévoles Océan, and
Magip Abdoul Samba, 41 years, from Yoff, Sénégal and active in the Small-Scale Fisheries Academy.