Students and marine enthusiasts around the world will be able to see what life is like under Cayman Islands waters with the return of ‘Reefs Go Live‘, an innovative educational programme from the Central Caribbean Marine Institute.
First broadcast in 2018, Reefs Go Live live streams directly from coral reefs around Little Cayman, using the latest in underwater video technology and audio equipment to show the beauty of the coral and the diversity of its marine life. Reefs Go Live will be an interactive experience, with viewers able to ask the divers questions in real time as well as participate in online polls throughout the show.
While coral reefs across the planet have been suffering due to record-breaking ocean temperatures, the reefs of Little Cayman have shown promising signs of hope, with many of the key reef-building coral species in Little Cayman surviving the extreme temperatures.
The diverse fish population is also continuing to thrive, thanks to effective management in Little Cayman’s marine protected areas.
The programmes will showcase the value of coral reefs and highlight the importance of conservation, research and the work that CCMI is doing to conserve these essential ecosystems at such a critical time in their history.
New episodes added
The 2024 season of Reefs Go Live had more than 45,000 views from ocean enthusiasts around the globe. This year, CCMI’s Reefs Go Live team is adding four new episodes and a range of educational offerings, including mini documentaries and supplemental teaching resources to help integrate the material into classroom lessons around the world.
CCMI’s general manager Kate Holden said, “This year marks the culmination of some of CCMI’s largest and most ground-breaking research projects. These findings, which share insight into what the future holds for Cayman’s reefs in the face of climate change, will be fed into every broadcast of this season.”
Holden added, “Our recent data indicate that the reefs of Little Cayman show signs of resilience and recovery during some of the most extreme environmental conditions on record. CCMI looks forward to bringing the classroom to students all over the globe, live from the unique ecosystem that is Little Cayman’s coral reefs.”
Uncharted waters
The first episode of the 2025 season will take place on Friday, 21 March at 10am Cayman time. The episode, ‘Exploring the Unknown Ocean: Underwater Mountains of Cayman’, will reveal what CCMI researchers found when exploring the previously uncharted underwater mountains of Pickle Bank and 12-Mile Bank, and why this research is so important for coral reefs in the Cayman Islands and around the Caribbean.
Other episodes scheduled are: ‘Cryptic Creatures of the Reef’, airing on Friday, 11 April; ‘Endangered Corals: Finding and Restoring Rare Coral Species’ on Friday, 9 May; and ‘Climate Change and Our Ocean’ on Friday, 6 June, World Ocean Day.
Registration for Reefs Go Live is free and is only required once to receive access to all episodes. Viewers can watch the season launch video here.
