PondyCAN is proud to join leading educational institutions, conservation organizations, and  individuals in dozens of countries around the world to celebrate our shared ocean.  World Oceans Day – held on June 8 of each year – is an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

The Ocean Project, an international network of over 830 aquariums, zoos, museums, and conservation organizations is working closely with the World Ocean Network to coordinate activities worldwide under the theme "helping our climate - helping our ocean" with a special focus on coral reefs.

The world's oceans cover more than 70% of our planet's surface and the rich web of life they support is the result of hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Nomadic peoples were collecting shellfish and harvesting fish long before the dawn of settled agriculture. Great human civilizations, from the Egyptians to the Polynesians relied on the sea for commerce and transport. In our immediate region, the great Cholas were able to spread their empire across much of the Far East by their close relationship with the sea. Now, at the end of the Twentieth Century, our fate is as tied to the oceans as ever. We still rely on fish for a significant portion of our daily protein needs, and more than $500 billion of the world's economy is tied to ocean-based industries such as coastal tourism and shipping. Perhaps most important, this vast mass of water acts to help regulate the global climate and to ensure that a constant flow of vital nutrients is cycled throughout the biosphere.