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twitterDATE: Friday, 5th June 2026
TIME: 10:00 am – 10:40 am Cayman time (UTC -5h)
LOCATION: Camana Bay Cinema
NEWS & EVENTS
WORLD OCEAN DAY
2026 – Coral reefs and us: Our Island Guardians
- introduction
- AT THe cinema
- healthy reefs
- ARCHIVE
introduction
Coral reefs are beautiful, colourful, and intricate ecosystems found in tropical marine waters. But they are so much more than beautiful places for us to snorkel and dive. Coral reefs provide many services and play many roles, especially for small island nations, such as the Cayman Islands.
Reefs are a source of food and income for people around the world. More than 25% of marine life can be found in and around coral reefs, making it one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth! Many families depend on coral reefs for their jobs, livelihoods, and their food. In fact, coral reefs help support more than one billion people worldwide. That means reefs are important to many communities, even far from islands.
Additionally, coral reefs provide coastline protection from strong waves and big storms. Reefs serve as natural barriers, breaking up wave energy, and slowing down the water before it reaches the shore. This helps keep homes, beaches, and families safer.
Join the CCMI team this World Ocean Day to understand more about the role coral reefs play in protecting and supporting people and places around the world through our free community outreach of Reefs Go Live and the Reef Lecture in Grand Cayman. When reefs are healthy, they protect coastlines, provide food, support cultures and traditions, provide inspiration, and support many jobs directly and indirectly tied to coral reefs. Help us to share the important messages about threats coral reefs face and how our actions can help protect coral reefs and marine biodiversity for the future!
2026 sponsors
WORLD OCEAN DAY AT THE CINEMA
CCMI celebrates World Ocean Day every year as part of our Healthy Reefs outreach efforts, and in 2026, we will return to the Camana Bay Cinema for this FREE World Ocean Day Reefs Go Live event! (Virtual registrations also available.)
Coral reefs are more than beautiful underwater worlds; they are vital guardians of island life. In this episode, we explore why we need reefs and how healthy marine ecosystems support human well-being, from food and livelihoods to coastal protection and culture.
We break down the essential ecosystem services reefs provide to communities around the world, regardless of where they live and hear powerful testimonials from the coral reef community who share what coral reefs mean to them and why protecting them matters. The episode ends with Mission Save the Reef, inviting our dive buddies to take action and become part of the fight to protect reefs for future generations.
This virtual underwater experience also allows the audience the opportunity to send questions to our Little Cayman dive team, with selected questions being answered live during the broadcast! Come prepared to ask your coral reef questions.
This event is FREE and open to local schools, tourists, and members of the public. Classes, especially years 4, 5, and 6, 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.
HEALTHY REEFS ART GALLERY
As part of a special collaborative effort, students in Ms. McDougall’s BTEC art class at the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre (CIFEC) were tasked with designing a two-dimensional poster in support of CCMI’s Healthy Reefs awareness campaign. This project was an assignment to students as a way to develop artistic techniques while also working with a client, allowing students to develop transferrable life skills in support of their career path in art.
As their final project for the 2024-25 school year, students practiced their techniques, spoke with CCMI staff, researched coral reefs, incorporated feedback from the client, and worked toward a final Healthy Reefs poster that was submitted as part of their portfolio for the course.
Visit this virtual art gallery of the posters designed by these talented students of Ms. McDougall’s class. We hope you enjoy seeing their creativity and skills at work in support of healthy coral reefs!
reports
2024 Little Cayman Healthy Reef Report Card & 2023 Bleaching Report Card
Since 1999, CCMI has conducted annual monitoring of coral reefs in Little Cayman to build a database of information about the state of coral reefs and the changes seen over time. Results from the AGRRA surveys conducted in August 2024 were released in the 2024 Reef Report Card.
This report card reflects the state of the reefs in Little Cayman following the fourth global coral bleaching event (summer 2023). CCMI conducted additional surveys outside of the annual monitoring efforts to document the coral bleaching in Little Cayman and identify the impact to the reefs and how they changed. The results from this effort can be found in the 2023/24 coral bleaching report card.
world ocean day 2025
Climate Change and our Ocean
To celebrate World Ocean Day 2025, CCMI hosted a Reefs Go Live broadcast at the Camana Bay Cinema, released the 2024 Reef Report Card, and hosted a Reef Lecture focused on the impacts of warming oceans on coral reproduction.
We continue to highlight how accelerating climate change is impacting coral reefs and the overall health of our ocean, and address how CCMI is working to find solutions that will help corals survive into the future.
2025 Virtual Art Exhibition
In 2025, students at BTEC/CIFEC completed their final art project for the school year in conjunction with CCMI. After learning about various art styles and techniques, they were given a brief to create an art project to support the annual Healthy Reefs campaign messaging, which is an important way to communicate the
world ocean day 2024
Corals in a Changing Climate: A Dive into the Future of Coral Reefs
To celebrate World Ocean Day 2024, CCMI hosted a Reefs Go Live broadcast at the Camana Bay Cinema, released the 2023 Reef Report Card and 2023 Bleaching Report Card, and hosted a Reef Lecture to share “Impacts of the 2023 marine heatwave on corals in Little Cayman.”
The focus this year was how coral reefs are changing due to the supermarine heat wave and subsequent mass global coral bleaching event in 2023.
2024 Virtual Art Exhibition
Students from BTEC/CIFEC once again each created a 2D art project as part of their curriculum to promote the beauty, value, and critical role coral reefs play in the ocean and the Cayman Islands. Final art projects were printed and displayed at the annual World Ocean Day Reefs Go Live broadcast at the Camana Bay Cinema in June 2024.
world ocean day 2023
25 Years of Coral Reef Research
To celebrate World Ocean Day 2023, CCMI hosted a Reefs Go Live broadcast at the Camana Bay Cinema, released the 2022 Reef Report Card, and hosted a Reef Lecture to share what we have learned about coral reefs in Little Cayman from 25 years of coral monitoring surveys.
The focus for this year was 25 years of CCMI’s work for coral reefs.
2023 Virtual Art Exhibition
Enjoy the beautiful artwork of Mrs McDougall’s BTEC/CIFEC students who created visual messages that promote CCMI’s Healthy Reefs campaign. Each student designed and developed their own piece about what healthy reefs meant to them, with guidance and feedback from CCMI.
world ocean day 2022
Restoring Healthy Reefs for the Future
To celebrate World Ocean Day 2022, CCMI hosted a Reefs Go Live broadcast at the Camana Bay Cinema, released our 2021 Reef Report Card, and hosted a Reef Lecture to announced the findings from our 2021 AGRRA coral monitoring surveys.
The focus for this year was Restoring Healthy Reefs for the Future, which encompasses our major research projects at CCMI as well as our annual Healthy Reefs campaign of public outreach programmes and events.
2022 Virtual Art Exhibition
world ocean 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 Virtual Art Exhibition
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.
