NOAA’s endangered species Ocean Art Contest seeking submissions from students

K–12 students are invited to celebrate threatened and endangered species in the Pacific Islands region with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual art contest.

Winning artwork will be featured in an exhibition and online.

For 50 years, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been protecting species and the places they live under the Endangered Species Act. This fall, NOAA Fisheries invites K–12 students to enter its ESA@50 Ocean Art Contest to celebrate a half century of conservation efforts.

NOAA Fisheries is looking for art that showcases threatened or endangered marine species in the Pacific Islands region. This includes hawksbill turtles, blue whales, giant manta rays and more in:

• American Samoa
• Hawai‘i
• Mariana Islands (Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)

NOAA Fisheries encourages participants to explore facts about the species they choose to represent, such as appearance, behavior, habitat and threats to their survival.

The contest is now open, and the submission deadline is:

• American Samoa: 11:59 p.m. SST on November 30, 2023
• Hawai‘i: 11:59 p.m. HST on November 30, 2023
• CNMI and Guam: 11:59 p.m. ChST on December 1, 2023

NOAA Fisheries will announce contest winners publicly on Dec. 28 — the official 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. They will honor winners with a public art exhibition and awards presentation in 2024.

For more information on how to enter, visit the contest information page.