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2024 Science Without Borders® Challenge: Introducing the 11-14 Year-Old Finalists

Get ready to be inspired! The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is delighted to reveal the finalists of the 2024 Science Without Borders® Challenge. This year’s theme is “Hidden Wonders of the Deep,” and we challenged young artists from around the world to create a piece of artwork that highlights the beauty and importance of deep-sea creatures or ecosystems. We received over 1,700 entries from 82 different countries, making the selection process challenging yet rewarding.

Each submission, from intricate illustrations of mysterious deep-sea creatures to captivating depictions of unique deep-sea ecosystems, contributed a unique perspective to understanding the ocean’s mysteries. After careful deliberation, our judges have chosen finalists whose exceptional artwork exceeded expectations in creativity, originality, and adherence to the theme.

The submissions were breathtaking, and we’re eager for you to see them. Without further ado, here are the finalists for Ages 11-14 of the 2024 Science Without Borders® Challenge. Prepare to be amazed by their artwork, which showcases deep-sea creatures and ecosystems, emphasizing the urgent need to preserve the deep sea.

Second Place (11-14): "Don’t Follow the Light" by Cheong Wong, Age 11, China

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Artist's Statement: Deep, cold, and dark, this mysterious and unknown deep-sea world has the largest unknown biological system on Earth. It's pretty ugly which name is anglerfish. It lives in a dark world where the sun is completely out of reach, where the water depth is more than 1,000 meters and its eyes have degenerated and shrunk.The food falls from the sea becomes less and less, it has evolved a huge mouth in order not to miss the scarce food. It uses sensitive hair on its body to sense the flow velocity of surrounding water. It has a long bait ball on its head, which emits a faint glow in the darkness and lures prey, when it feels the prey approaching, it immediately opens its huge mouth to suck in the prey with the seawater.I hope awaken everyone to cherish the magical beauty of colorful life in this dark kingdom on Earth.

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