Winners named in MVA’s diving photo tilt

In support of the 2005 “See My Marianas” Campaign theme, the Marianas Visitors Authority, together with the Northern Marianas Diving Operators Association, conducted a dive campaign entitled “Diving Photo Contest 2005.”

The campaign was designed to entice more divers to visit the Marianas—Saipan, Tinian, and Rota—as the dive destination of choice.

One hundred sixty seven photos for three categories were submitted to the MVA office in Japan during the three-month campaign period from April 1 to June 30, 2005. The top three from the three categories were selected on Friday, July 22, 2005 by five judges—Larry Lee, Jack Hardy, Edwin Propst as professional photographers, and Atsushi Nakadai and Hitoshi Yamaguchi from NMDOA.

The winners are as follows:

BEST SHOT OF DIVER
1st Prize: Masaki Erikawa (Rota Hole)
2nd Prize: Kiyoshi Ichinose (Grotto)
3rd Prize: Hiroto Kitagawa (Spotlight)

BEST SHOT OF MARINE LIFE
1st Prize: Hiroyuki Shimizu (Boys Scout Beach)
2nd Prize: Kunihiko Teranishi (Dump Cove)
3rd Prize: Minoru Tahara (Ice Cream)

BEST UNDERWATER FILM
1st Prize: Masamichi Kosuge (Obyan Beach)
2nd Prize: Tadashi Takaiwa (Kammer Beach)
3rd Prize: Hisashi Kato (Spotlight)

The 1st place winners will receive $2,000 worth of valuable prizes in a package, $1,000 for the 2nd place winners and $500 for the 3rd place winners. Various MVA members contributed approximately $15,000 worth of prizes. Winning photos will be placed in the September issue of Umi to Shima no Tabi and Marine Diving publications in Japan. These publications are popular among the dive enthusiast in Japan.

“Since 1999, the MVA had not sponsored a diving photo contest until this year. We are very pleased with the entries as they display nature’s beauty underwater here in the Marianas—Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The MVA will be using selected photos in future promotions of our destination. We are pleased with the turnout and will be looking forward to another contest in the near future,” said MVA managing director Vicky Benavente.

According to MVA monthly arrival statistics, 12 percent to 15 percent of total visitors from Japan choose to visit the Marianas—Saipan, Tinian and Rota—for diving purposes.

“The MVA is working closely with the Department of Land and Natural Resources to maintain the cleanliness and beauty of our environment to include our popular dive sites. We are very mindful of our natural surroundings underwater and we encourage everyone to be sensitive to the environment. We also work closely with the Department of Public Safety to ensure the safety of divers in the Marianas,” said Benavente. (PR)