Saluting the Tournament Earth Winner: Canary Islands

For the second year in a row, an image from the Canary Islands took the championship of Tournament: Earth. In 2013, a submarine volcano near El Hierro Island was the crowd favorite. This year, it was a shot of the entire island chain that dominated the vote. When “Trailing the Canaries” faced “Activity at Kliuchevskoi” in the championship round, it wasn’t just a win for the Canaries image; it was a blowout. Of the nearly 50,000 votes cast, 96 percent went to the Canary Islands image.

To salute our many readers from the Canaries, we’ve combed through our archives and selected five of our all-time favorite images involving the island chain. They are posted below from oldest to newest. Click on each image for more details. Enjoy!

Dust over the Canary Islands (March 2009)

Teide Volcano (July 2009)

Sand and Tourism in Gran Canaria (January 2013)

El Hierro Submarine Volcano Eruption (2013 Tournament Earth Champion)

Trailing the Canaries (2014 Tournament Earth Champion)