STUNNING IMAGES TO MAKE YOU LOVE YOUR COAST

Clean Coasts Announces Winners of Love Your Coast Photography Competition, Showcasing the Beauty of the Irish Coast.

3rd November | Today, Clean Coasts proudly announced the winning photographers of the 14th edition of the Love Your Coast photography competition. With a prize fund of €6,000, the competition has attracted hundreds of photographers all around Ireland this year, receiving a record number of over 1,300 entries.

Stephen Dunbar, with his “Humpback Feeding”, captured in Broadhaven Bay, Co. Mayo won the “Photographer of the Year” title and 1st place in the Wildlife and the Coast category.

About the picture, Stephen said: “This image of a Humpback Whale was captured in Broadhaven Bay. I watched the whale feeding the day before from land. The next day, I was lucky enough to get out on a rib with Brendan and Marcus from IWDG. We first encountered two huge Basking Sharks when they came over to our boat. After that, we found the Humpback Whale feeding in the bay with a handful of Minke Whales and lots of common Dolphins. Many birds feed in the bay, including Kittiwakes, which are seen in the image, along with Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills.”

Winners in other categories included:

  • Coastal Landscape: Peter Vandermeersch, Horizon, Bray, Co. Wicklow
  • Coastal Heritage: Karol Ryan, Sturgeon Moon, Ballycotton, Ballycotton, Co. Cork
  • People and the Coast: Megan Gayda, The Ocean Flare, Co. Clare
  • Underwater: Derek Bolton, Emerald Jewel, Sovereign Island, Co. Cork
  • Protectors of the Coast: Robert Ledwith, A Ray of Hope, Co. Clare

For a full list of top 10 images in each category and runners-up, please see the editor’s notes.

In 2023, Clean Coasts celebrated its 20th anniversary. Since 2003, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life. Since 2010, the Love Your Coast photography competition has been a celebration of all the beauty and uniqueness of the Irish coast, that Clean Coasts volunteers work to protect.

As part of its commitments under the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive and OSPAR’s Marine Litter Action Plan, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is proud to support An Taisce’s ‘Clean Coasts Programme’, in its enthusiastic engagement with marine communities in relation to marine litter and in heightening public awareness and influencing positive behaviour among civil society.

Clean Coasts is also sponsored by Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority.  The Green Coast Awards and associated Clean Coasts groups act as custodians for the beaches, seas, and marine life in Ireland, ensuring that they are managed appropriately and that they are litter and pollution free for our visitors to enjoy.

“ Love Your Coast mission extends beyond a mere photography competition,” stated Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager. “Our coastal and marine environment form an integral part of Ireland’s identity. Through this competition, we invite the people in Ireland to appreciate, celebrate, and safeguard our coast, echoing the dedication of our over 2,000 volunteer groups working tirelessly to protect our marine environment.”

The Love Your Coast photography competition stands as a testament to Ireland’s coastal beauty and character, encapsulated through the lens of photographers who take part in the competition year after year. Clean Coasts wants to congratulate all the winning and shortlisted photographers and thank them for being part of this year’s celebrations.

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Images can be found here:https://cleancoasts.exposure.co/love-your-coast-2023-images

A video announcement can be found here: https://youtu.be/PEBJgOURAtc

Shortlisted and winning entries:

COASTAL LANDSCAPE

  1. Peter Vandermeersch, Horizon, Bray, Co. Wicklow
  2. Piotr Machowczyk, Kilfarrasy Winter Session, Kilfarrasy, Co. Waterford
  3. Peter Bijsterveld, Oyster Beds in the Morning, Woodstown Beach, Co. Waterford
  4. Adrian Hendroff Sea, Cliffs and Stars, Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare
  5. Conor Corbett, Winter at Glassilaun Beach, Co.Galway, Glassilaun Beach, Co. Galway
  6. Myles Lambert, What Once Was, Connemara, Co. Galway
  7. Rob Plant, Waiting for the Tide River Scorid entering Fermoyle Strand, Castlegregory, Co. Kerry
  8. Darragh Gorman, Electric Sea, Donegal Bay, Co. Donegal
  9. Darragh Gorman, Northern Delight, Cliffoney Bay, Co. Sligo
  10. Zhi Jun Jin, Bad Eddie, Bunbeg, Co. Donegal

 

COASTAL HERITAGE

  1. Karol Ryan, Sturgeon Moon, Ballycotton, Ballycotton, Co. Cork
  2. Todor Tilev, Abandoned Ship, Hook Peninsula, Co. Wexford
  3. Piotr Machowczyk, Blackhead Lighthouse, Co. Clare, Black Head, The Burren, Co.Clare
  4. Declan Roche, Sunset at Hook Lighthouse, Hook Lighthouse, Co. Wexford
  5. Myles Lambert, One Golden Glance, Hook Head, Co. Wexford
  6. Pawel Zygmunt, Liffey, Dublin
  7. Tadhg O’Connell, Northern Gannets Gathering, Bull Rock, West Cork
  8. Leszek Pawella, Skellig, Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry
  9. Kathy Masterson, Bád Eddie Magheraclogher Beach, Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal
  10. Michelle Duffy, Doe Castle Views, Creeslough, Co. Donegal

 

PEOPLE AND THE COAST

  1. Megan Gayda, The Ocean Flare, Co. Clare
  2. Kevin Doyle, Rescue 117, Tramore, Co. Waterford
  3. Ryan Murray, Cahersiveen in Seine Mood, Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry
  4. Francisco Romo, Summer Swimmers, Vico Baths, Killiney, Co. Dublin
  5. Des Byrne, Calvin Klein, Naylors Cove, Bray, Co. Wicklow
  6. Todor Tilev, At the Cave at Boyeeghter Bay, Boyeeghter Bay, Co. Donegal
  7. Christine Taylor, Flat Out, Laytown Beach, Co. Meath
  8. Fran Cassidy, Achill Surfers, Keel Strand, Achill Island, Co. Mayo
  9. Peter Vandermeersch, New Year in Ireland, Bray, Co. Wicklow
  10. Terry Conroy, Marching to the Pipes, Dooagh, Achill, Co. Mayo

 

UNDERWATER

  1. Derek Bolton, Emerald Jewel, Sovereign Island, Co. Cork
  2. Ryan Murray, Basking Shark Plankton Buffet, Ventry Bay, Co. Kerry
  3. Richard O’ Donnell, Sun Bathing Compass Jellyfish, The Birds, Valentia Island, Co. Kerry
  4. Ivan Donoghue, Collision Avoidance, Saltee Islands, Co. Wexford
  5. Maria McSweeney, Moon Jellyfish Bloom, Inis Mor, Co. Galway
  6. Ivan Donoghue, Permission To Land, Hook Head, Co. Wexford
  7. Shazia Waheed, Shore Clingfish, Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford
  8. Maja Stankovski, My First Basking Shark, Skellig Michael, Co. Kerry
  9. Mark Thomas, Plaice Face, Aughrus Bay, Claddaghduff, Co. Galway
  10. Rory Maccanna, Common Blenny, Trá an Dóilín, Co. Galway

 

WILDLIFE AND THE COAST

  1. Stephen Dunbar, Humpback Feeding, Broadhaven Bay, Co. Mayo
  2. Karol Waszkiewicz, Godwit Digging Skills, Black Rock, Co. Kerry
  3. Donal Power, Storm Chaser, Outcrop off Greater Saltee Island, Co. Wexford
  4. Christopher Howes, Time to Ourselves, Briedshead, Co. Wicklow
  5. Pat Somers, Little Egret with Mullet, Ferrybank, Co. Wexford
  6. Ailish Treviss, Sunbathing Babes, Seal Island, Glengarriff, Co. Cork
  7. Declan Roche, Homeward Bound, Saltee Islands, Co. Wexford
  8. Graham Murphy, Elegant and Beauty, Dingle, Co. Kerry
  9. Caoimhe Tyndall, Ringed Plover, Bundoran, Co. Donegal
  10. Liam Mc Laughlin, Cormorant in Full Mating Colours, Inch Island Wildlife Reserve, Co. Donegal

PROTECTORS OF THE COAST

  1. Robert Ledwith, A Ray of Hope, Co. Clare
  2. Alan Davis, Loopers on a Log, Co. Wexford
  3. May Burns, The Beach Cleaners, Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo