CCMI Launches Grand Cayman Ocean Outreach Campaign While Coral Reefs are Struggling

The Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) is excited to announce an ocean outreach campaign featuring two world-renowned ocean advocates and science communicators, running from 29^th October to 10^th November.

This campaign will deliver tailored outreach across the Cayman Islands to primary and secondary school students and the broader community through educational sessions and talks. These events will take participants on a journey around the world via the oceans, from the ice caps of the Antarctic to the tropical coral reefs of the Red Sea. Award-winning wildlife cameraman, Doug Allan, OBE, will use his archive of footage from filming for shows such as Blue Planet and Frozen Planet to take us on a voyage around the globe through stunning imagery of the marine world.

Uli Kunz, marine biologist, TV presenter, and CCMI’s Festival of Seas keynote speaker for 2025, will be delivering talks to government primary schools across Grand Cayman and hosting a public reef lecture on 29^th October, focusing on inter-relationships within the ocean and marine creatures and the vulnerability of these beautiful habitats.  

The sessions will build upon both speakers’ experiences exploring some of the wildest and most fascinating marine worlds on our planet to show the audience how vast and awe-inspiring, but also intrinsically connected and in desperate need of our help the marine habitats of our planet really are. The campaign focuses on the connectedness of the oceans and the pivotal role of Cayman’s marine environment on the global stage, showcasing the importance of healthy coral reefs to international biodiversity and communities beyond borders. Combined, both speakers are aiming to reach over 1,000 students in government schools across the Cayman Islands in addition to members of the community through public events.

Now, more than ever, is the time to commit to environmental learning and stewardship as marine environments across the world, including Cayman’s habitats, face unprecedented threats in the form of ocean warming, coral disease outbreaks and impacts from human activities. Protecting these critical environments begins with knowing, understanding and loving them, which is the aim of CCMI’s biggest ocean education campaign to date.

Why This Matters

Coral reefs are under extreme pressure from warming oceans, coral disease outbreaks, pollution and other threats. Protecting coral reefs begins with knowing them and the chance to understand the importance of their role in our everyday lives and the lives of millions around the world. This is exactly what this campaign aims to deliver; increased connection, understanding and stewardship for these crucial and vulnerable ecosystems.

Public Outreach Events

In addition to visiting both primary and secondary schools across Grand Cayman, both speakers will be hosting public events that are free to attend:

Reef Lecture – ‘The Weird and Wonderful’ The Important Role of Ocean Critters

WHEN: 29^th October – 6 pm

WHERE: Ambassadors of the Environment, The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman

REGISTER:  https://donate.reefresearch.org/Uli_Kunz

Voyage of the Oceans, with Doug Allan OBE

WHEN: Saturday 8^th November – 6 pm

WHERE: National Gallery of the Cayman Islands

REGISTER: https://donate.reefresearch.org/VoyageOfTheOceans_DougAllan

CCMI is grateful to the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust and our 2025 Healthy Reefs sponsors: Wheaton Precious Metals International, Foster’s Supermarket, The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Cayman Water, and Knighthead International for their funding that makes this work possible.