World Ocean Day

Restoring Healthy Reefs for the Future

CCMI invites friends of all ages to join us for World Ocean Day 2022 as we work to ensure we have healthy reefs for the future!

CCMI celebrates World Ocean Day every year as part of our Healthy Reefs outreach efforts, and in 2022, we will be returning to our special World Ocean Day Reefs Go Live event at the Camana Bay Cinema (virtual participation available, too)!

DATE: Wednesday, 8th June 2022
TIME: 10:00 am – 10:40 am Cayman time (UTC -5h)
LOCATION: Camana Bay Cinema

Join CCMI as one of our virtual dive buddies for our special World Ocean Day 2022 Reefs Go Live broadcast: Restoring Healthy Reefs for the Future. Our team in Little Cayman will take us underwater to explore the coral reefs, discuss what it means when a reef is healthy, and share with us what CCMI is doing to help keep our reefs healthy in the Cayman Islands. We’ll also learn how we can all do our part to ensure there are many healthy reefs for the future.

** This event is free and open to local schools, tourists, and members of the public. Classes, especially years 4 and 5, are encouraged to participate. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED for both in-person and virtual attendance. Donations are appreciated and support the conservation, education, outreach and restoration projects of CCMI.

We appreciate the support of our sponsors and partners who are making this World Ocean Day celebration possible:

World Oceans Day 2021

Stand Up for Reefs

For World Ocean Day 2020, CCMI shared news of hope, resiliency and a clear pathway for corals reefs, when we announced that CCMI successfully championed Little Cayman as a Mission Blue Hope Spot! Building on that important designation, we planned our 2021 activity to promote taking action for coral reefs. Coral reefs make up less than 1% of the ocean, yet they are home to more than 25% of all marine life – more than 1 million species! Healthy coral reefs are critical to healthy oceans, and as we are all interconnected, it is time for everyone to stand up for coral reefs to ensure a healthy future for our blue planet.

In support of the message Stand Up for Reefs, we launched the Stand Up for Reefs podcast, held a Reefs Go Live broadcast at the Camana Bay Cinema, released our 2020 Reef Report Card, and hosted a Reef Lecture to announced the findings from our 2020 AGRRA coral monitoring surveys.

2021 World Oceans Day Virtual Art Exhibit

As a project in the fall of 2020, students in Ms. McDougall’s art class at the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre (CIFEC), were tasked with creating a two-dimensional piece of art to support CCMI’s Healthy Reefs campaign.

Students explored different art techniques while also learning about coral reefs, marine life, CCMI’s work and the important of healthy coral reefs to the Cayman Islands to create meaningful pieces that conveyed the campaign’s important messages.

We invite you to visit our Healthy Reefs Virtual Art Gallery and enjoy the beauty of the art and the talent of these students.

World Oceans Day 2020

Little Cayman Named a Mission Blue Hope Spot

On Saturday 6^th June 2020, CCMI shared news of hope, resiliency and a clear pathway for corals reefs. With the help of our Royal Patron, HRH The Earl of Wessex, and Dr Sylvia Earle of Mission Blue, CCMI announced that we have successfully championed Little Cayman as a Mission Blue Hope Spot! The island is now recognized as a Hope Spot because of the high abundance of threatened and endemic species found there – both on land and underwater. Just off the western point of Little Cayman is a site protected by the Cayman Islands Government that is one of the last remaining large spawning aggregation sites for the endangered Nassau grouper. Green, hawksbill and loggerhead sea turtles nest on Little Cayman’s beaches every year, and the coast is abundant with marine life, including seven species of sharks. Little Cayman’s coral reefs are also a vibrant contributor to the Island’s rich biodiversity.

2020 World Oceans Day Virtual Underwater Photography Exhibition

CCMI offered an online exhibition of underwater photography from some of our favourite photographers as part of a virtual World Oceans Day celebration in 2020! You can enjoy these beautiful photos again this year and learn more about each photographer in the virtual gallery.

We hope you enjoy this free exhibition of underwater photography, which was part of our effort to bring news of hope, resiliency and a clear pathway for corals reefs during a time of uncertainty amid the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.