Seaweek competitions for 2015 announced

NZAEE Seaweek has announced two new competitions for Seaweek 2015 with some fantastic prizes up for grabs during New Zealand’s annual, national week about the sea.

The theme for this year’s Seaweek, which runs from Saturday, February 28 to Sunday, March 8, 2015, is “Look beneath the surface – Papatai ō roto – Papatai ō raro”.

The Seaweek theme is the inspiration for the idea behind both competitions. The first is a national poetry competition, where entrants are asked to write a Haiku three-line poem inspired by the Seaweek 2015 theme and illustrate it with a photograph before posting both onto the Sea Week Facebook page using the hashtag #Seaweek2015haiku.

There are three categories:
Age 10 and under – 1st prize Young Ocean Explorers book & DVD
Age 11-16 – 1st prize Our Big Blue Backyard book
Age 17 up and adult – 1st prize Our Big Blue Backyard book

The competition judge is Pacifica poet Doug Poole, who edits the Blackmail Press Poetry Journal and produced POLYNATION, which headlined at literary festivals in Australia and New Zealand in 2008.

The second competition is a “Seaweek Selfie” photographic challenge where entrants post a photograph of themselves being “Ultimate Young Ocean Explorers” and exploring what it means to “Look beneath the surface” during Seaweek 2015 onto the Sea Week Facebook page using the hashtag #Seaweek2015YOE.

The competition judges are Young Ocean Explorers Steve Hathaway and his daughter Riley, and up for grabs is a swag of Young Ocean Explorers branded gear including mask and snorkel sets, T-shirts, umbrellas and the about-to-be launched Young Ocean Explorers book and DVD.

Full details for both competitions, which open for entries on Monday, February 23, are on the NZAEE Seaweek website at seaweek.org.nz along with a national events programme that has grown to around 150 events around the country.

Early voting in the Seaweek 2015 Ocean Champion competition has been intense and with two weeks still to go there’s no clear winner from the 17 nominees. Voting takes place on the Seaweek website at seaweek.org.nz and continues until February 28. The winner will receive $500 donated by the New Zealand Coastal Society.