Winners
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#protectourocean
The stories behind the wave of change
Every finalist started with nothing but an idea. Read their stories, then look at yours again.
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The stories behind the wave of change
Every finalist started with nothing but an idea. Read their stories, then look at yours again.
Winners
32
Top ideas
22
Countries
3
Editions so far
USD 80K
Awarded to date
Discover Our Past Winners
We are proud to share the winners from the two editions of the OceanLove Innovation Awards, people who turned bright ideas into meaningful action for our ocean. By showcasing their work, we hope to make their impact visible and connect them with funds, investors, volunteers, and others who want to support their journey.
These stories are here to inspire all bright minded ocean lovers to think big, come up with bold ideas, and take them even further in the next round of the OceanLove Innovation Awards.
Grogenics
#1 Blue Circle Award and Public Vote Award · 2026
Grogenics (What If Sargassum Could Give Back?)
The project intercepts floating Sargassum before it strands and decomposes along coastlines, then uses controlled composting, bioremediation and biochar processes to transform the collected biomass into useful products while protecting coastal ecosystems and communities.
€10,000
GoldenRoots
#1 Living Sea Award · 2026
GoldenRoots: Jute-Weave Bio-Shields for Sundarbans Restoration
GoldenRoots uses biodegradable woven jute Bio-Shields to stabilize eroding mudflats and give young mangroves a better chance to establish in the Sundarbans. The approach combines ecosystem restoration with a local value chain involving jute farmers and community members in producing, deploying and monitoring the Bio-Shields.
€10,000
GaiaOne Coral Academy
#1 Wavemakers Award · 2026
GaiaOne Coral Academy
GaiaOne Coral Academy creates a training-to-employment pathway for local women to become certified divers and coral-restoration practitioners. The program aims to expand the local conservation workforce while putting reef protection, skills and livelihood opportunities into community hands.
€10,000
The Ocean Shade Blanket
Public Vote Award · 2026
The Ocean Shade Blanket
The Ocean Shade Blanket works to protect vulnerable corals during periods of extreme heat and sunlight. Woven natural-grass matting creates partial shade above reef areas, reducing heat and light stress during marine heatwaves while researchers investigate its potential to give corals valuable time to survive and recover.
Public Vote
CoastWatch Schools
Public Vote Award · 2026
Coastal Watch Schools: Youth Drones for Sierra Leone's Vanishing Shores
CoastWatch Schools equips students, teachers and university GIS students with drones and mapping tools to document coastal erosion, mangrove loss and restoration. The project aims to generate useful local environmental data while developing a new generation of coastal stewards.
Public Vote
Gauri & Akshay Salunkhe
#1 · 2025
Reconnecting with Vanua
Indigenous youth-led reef literacy, blending traditional knowledge with marine science across Fiji.
€10,000
Hana Tohamy
#2 · 2025
VeryNile
Fishers collect and recycle Nile plastic before it reaches the sea, turning waste into green jobs.
€5,000
Action For Ocean
#3 · 2025
Matumbawe Hai
Coral restoration, sustainable fishing and financial inclusion across the Kilwa seascape.
€3,000
Che Divine Nsoh
#4 · 2025
Kick-Out the Debris
200 young leaders across five coastal communities in Limbe, with cleanups and a biodiversity football cup
Nadine Wahab
#5 · 2025
Sustainable Network Egypt
A national network linking Red Sea and Mediterranean sustainability projects
€1,000
Saad Abid
#1 · 2024
Chbika
A simple, low-cost tool that sifts micro-waste out of beach sand — now a judge and Special Ambassador.
€10,000
Gabriela Casuso
#2 · 2024
Charlas El Océano
Ocean literacy talks, videos and games for children — founded when she was ten, submitted at sixteen.
€5,000
Uriel Sanchez
#3 · 2024
SeaSprout
Artificial rhodolith beds that restore trawled seabed and lock away carbon as the algae calcify.
€2,500
Johannes Bochdalofsky
#4 · 2024
Alternative fuels from seaweed
Seaweed and green hydrogen turned into fuel at scale, with jobs for rural coastal communities
€2,500
Thom Wheeler
#5 · 2024
Guardians of the Sacred Waters
Indigenous-led protection of the lower Tapajós
€2,500
The Finalists
Float Africa: Learn, Live, Love the Ocean
FLOAT Africa helps coastal youth in Tanzania build a relationship with the ocean through Swahili educational films, swimming instruction and ocean expeditions.
Tanzania
PlanktonLens
PlanktonLens makes one of the ocean's smallest and most important forms of life visible to coastal communities through workshops and low-cost smartphone microscopy.
Cameroon
The Future of Sea Urchin Management
The Urchin CC Cage is a passive trapping concept designed to reduce excessive sea-urchin grazing in areas where urchins are preventing kelp forests from recovering.
Australia
BULIK MANIS: A Foldable Fish Trap for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries
BULIK MANIS is a foldable passive fish trap developed with Indonesian small-scale fishers.
Indonesia
Eco-Smart Fish Bait Solutions to Save Nyumba Sita's Juvenile Mangroves
This project addresses damage to juvenile mangroves caused when fishers dig around young trees to collect bait worms.
Kenya
The Coir-Netting Cage Initiative
The Coir-Netting Cage Initiative is developing biodegradable aquaculture gear made from locally available coconut coir as an alternative to plastic-intensive materials and mangrove-derived wooden stakes.
Tanzania
NetCYCLE Africa
NetCYCLE Africa is building a circular system for abandoned, lost and discarded fishing nets and other marine plastic waste.
Ghana
ClimatePod
A wet lab inside a shipping container that travels to monitor Mediterranean warming — encouragement prize, €1,000
Cyprus
Bahari Yetu Magazine
Swahili-language ocean science retold as community stories in Bagamoyo
Tanzania
Sachet, Away!
A comic and digital series on ocean literacy and deep-sea mining, made with local artists
Philippines
The Ocean Knows My Heart
A children's storybook and learning toolkit connecting Sinai and Tanzania
Tanzania & Egypt
Women Fisherfolk Leadership Corps
Leadership training, coral monitoring and sustainable fishing for women in Palawan
Philippines
The FlipFlopi Project
Plastic waste rebuilt into heritage furniture and traditional dhows, entirely within a closed loop
Kenya
Marine Protected Areas Day
A global awareness day connecting people to the protection of marine life
South Africa
Holistic coral reef restoration
Microfragmentation to rescue and regrow corals near Somabay and Safaga
Egypt
Algaritmo
An animated short on the quiet, essential role algae play in our ecosystems
Chile
Irrawaddy Dolphin Conservation
Protecting dolphins by preserving mangrove habitat and building local support
India
Your Turn
Got inspired? Yours could be next
Not one of these people had a company, a degree or funding behind them when they applied. They had an idea, and they sent it in. Applications for the 4th edition open in April 2027.
Seed funding
Grants to turn an idea into a first real step.
Coaching
An online bootcamp for the 30 most promising ideas.
A stage
The ceremony, the press, and a global network of OceanLovers.
Because you protect what you loveA volunteer-run non-profit, endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
