The Department of Environment is presenting its first World Ocean Day Fair on Friday, 6 June at the University College of the Cayman Islands campus quad.
The event, from 11am to 5pm, will feature interactive booths and documentary screenings highlighting local marine research.
It offers visitors the opportunity to meet Department of Environment scientists and explore their marine-based research.
Each interactive booth will feature virtual quizzes where winners can receive limited edition “I love Cayman” t-shirts, while quantities last.
Two new documentary films featuring Department of Environment scientists will be screened throughout the day in the UCCI Cascade lecture theatre, with showings beginning at 11am and continuing every 90 minutes until 4:20pm.
‘Our global ocean: The planet’s blue heart’, produced by the Cayman Islands Government Office-UK, examines challenges facing the blue planet, ecosystem resilience and ocean protection efforts through the lens of the Cayman Islands.
‘Tagged and tracked: Shark diaries of the Cayman Islands’, follows the Department of Environment’s shark research team.
It offers insights into latest tracking technology and how improved shark understanding contributes to planning for a more resilient Cayman Islands.
On World Ocean Day on Sunday, 8 June, both documentaries will be screened at Camana Bay Cinema in a free public event running from 2pm to 5:50pm.
The cinema screenings will feature three complete cycles of both films, beginning with ‘Our global ocean at 2pm, 3:30pm and 5pm, followed by ‘Tagged and tracked’ at 2:50pm, 4:20pm and 5:50pm.
The Friday campus fair represents the Department of Environment’s inaugural World Ocean Day celebration, designed to showcase ongoing marine research and conservation efforts in Cayman waters.
World Ocean Day, observed annually on 8 June, aims to raise global awareness about ocean conservation and the critical role oceans play in sustaining life on Earth.
Both events are open to the public, with the UCCI campus fair offering direct access to researchers and their work, while the cinema screenings provide opportunities to view the documentaries on a larger screen format.
The initiatives highlight the Department of Environment’s commitment to public education about marine conservation and the territory’s ongoing scientific research into coastal and deep-sea environments surrounding the Cayman Islands.
