World Oceans Day: Date, History, Significance, Theme, Cards & Banners

World Oceans Day (WOD) takes place annually on the 8th of June. The concept was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit – UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. WOD was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008. The International day supports the implementation of worldwide Sustainability Development Goals, and fosters public interest in the management of the ocean and its resources.

World Oceans Day: Date

The day is marked in a variety of ways, including launching new campaigns and initiatives, special events at aquariums and zoos, outdoor explorations, aquatic and beach cleanups, educational and conservation action programs, art contests, film festivals, and sustainable seafood events. Youth have been playing an increasingly important role since 2015. The Youth Advisory Council has been helping lead conservation awareness and action efforts globally since 2016.

Significance:

The day provides a unique opportunity not only to honor but also in conserving and in protecting our oceans.

It is observed on 8 June,  to raise global awareness about the importance of the ocean in our lives and the ways through which we can protect it.

It’s an individual’s duty to participate and contribute to protecting and preserving our shared ocean. So, it is desirable to get together with our family, friends, and community to create a better future for our planet.

It is rightly said that “Without water, our planet would be one of the billions of lifeless rocks floating endlessly in the vastness of the inky-black void.” ~ Fabien Cousteau

The oceans are the lungs of our planet; provide oxygen for breathing, are a major source of food & medicine, and are a critical part of the biosphere.

We know that the 3/4th part of our whole earth is full of water; it is our responsibility to save our ocean and marine life from the danger of global warming. It is no doubt that World Oceans Day is a big step toward saving the equilibrium of water and lives on earth.

World Oceans Day History:

2025:

Sustainable Fishing Means More

• The theme for World Oceans Day in 2025 is Sustainable Fishing Means More. This theme addresses the value in sustainable fishing in order to warrant health and ensure prosperity for marine resources and oceans. The 2025 event is being hosted in Nice, France on June 7, 2025.

2024:

Awaken New Depths

• Join us on 7 June as we awaken new depths of understanding, compassion, collaboration and commitment for the ocean.

2023:

Celebrating 10 Years: The Photo Competition for UN WOD

• The 2023 exhibition at the UN HQ in New York showcased winning images from the past decade since the competition’s inception.

2022:

First Hybrid United Nations World Oceans Day Event

• The United Nations World Oceans Day 2022 was the first-ever hybrid celebration of the annual event, featuring both in-person programming hosted at UN HQ in NYC and virtual components for global public accessibility.

2020: World Oceans Day

First Virtual United Nations World Oceans Day Event

• While traditionally an event held at the UN HQ in NYC, due to COVID-19 the United Nations World Oceans Day 2020 was the first ever digital rendition, accessible to the global public.

2017

United Nations 
Ocean Conference & World Oceans Day

• The Declaration of World Oceans Day in 2008 catalysed action worldwide. Twenty-five years after the first Oceans Day took place in Rio de Janeiro at UNCED, a special event on 8 June marked its celebration during the United Nations Ocean Conference held from 5-9 June 2017. The Ocean Conference was convened to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)14 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

2014: World Oceans Day

United Nations launched the annual amateur Oceanic Photo Competition.

2010

The Ocean Project and World Ocean Network recorded over 300 events for WOD 2010, a 26% increase over 2009. Participation in the United States increased by 32% (with participation in 37 states, as compared to 25 states the previous year). 45 countries participated in World Oceans Day 2010, including Bangladesh, Belgium, French Polynesia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malta, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Portugal.

2002 – 2008

In the early years of coordinated efforts by The Ocean Project, with World Ocean Network, events numbered in the dozens. During this time, www.WorldOceansDay.org launched, to help promote the event and generate more involvement through dissemination of resources, ideas, and tools free for everyone to use to celebrate World Oceans Day. In 2004, The Ocean Project and World Ocean Network launched a four-year petition to the United Nations to officially recognize 8 June as WOD. In December 2008, the UN General Assembly passed a Declaration to officially recognize the Day.

1987 – 1992

The Brundtland Commission (also known as the World Commission on Environment and Development) noted in the 1987 Brundtland Report that the ocean sector lacked a strong voice compared to other sectors.

At the first WOD in 1992, the objectives were to move the oceans from the sidelines to the center of the intergovernmental and NGO discussions and policy and to strengthen the voice of ocean and coastal constituencies worldwide.

Greetings & Message Cards:

World Oceans Day: Theme

Facebook Covers, Banners & Posters:

World Oceans Day: Quotes

• If you want to hear the distant voice of the ocean put your ear to the lips of a seashell. ~ Curtis Tyrone Jones
• Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. ~ Gandhi
• The beauty and mystery of the ocean, fills our lives with wonders, vast beyond our imagination. ~ M. L. Borges
• Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly. ~ Van Morrison
• Follow the river and you will find the sea. ~ French Proverb
• There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away. ~ Sarah Kay
• Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part. ~ Hermann Broch
• In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence. ~ Kahlil Gibran Jr.
• Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The ocean is a mighty harmonist. ~ William Wordsworth
• Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook. ~ William Arthur Ward
• It’s the sound of the sea that makes you believe in mermaids. ~ Anthony T. Hincks
• We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep. ~ William James
• The human desire to obtain more is a sieve that can never be filled with all the water from the world’s oceans. ~ Will Bowen
• Looking out over the ocean you can see reflections of God. ~ Catherine Pulsifer
• The cure for anything is saltwater sweat, tears, or the sea. ~ Isak Dinesen
• As the ocean is never full of water, so is the heart never full of love. ~ Author Unknown
• We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. ~ Mother Teresa
• You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
• The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths, it has its pearls too. ~ Vincent van Gogh

Wishes and Messages:

• No water, no life. No blue, no green. Happy World Ocean Day!
• Oceans are presents from God and we must take care of them by being more responsible. Happy World Ocean Day!
• Oceans are not mere bodies of water, they are the source of life on Earth, they are the source of oxygen for us. The time has come to protect them and save them. Warm wishes to you on World Oceans Day.
• The stretch and depth of the ocean define life. Don’t let the life in the sea die because of our wrong actions. World Oceans Day is the day that reminds us of our duties and responsibilities toward the oceans.
• Save the oceans as the Earth would not be the same if the major part of its constituent goes polluted and dead. Have a happy World Oceans Day!
• So many species of animals would lose their homes if we do not take care of the oceans. Happy World Oceans Day!
• We should not take the oceans for granted any longer. Happy World Oceans Day!
• Each and every drop of water has the power to swell the heart of the ocean. Promise to never waste it and always value it for a better life. Happy World Oceans Day!
• Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook. Happy World Oceans Day!
• In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth. Happy World Oceans Day!
• Sea is life and also an inspiration to life. With so many secrets and wonders locked in its depth, it is a vital part of our life. Let us come together to save our oceans!
• Let us make World Oceans Day more meaningful by making contributions at our levels to saving them. Remember, even the smallest of the acts can prove to be revolutionary.
• The Oceans have life and human beings have been treating them like dustbins in spite of knowing that. It’s time to stop and get educated on World Oceans Day.
• The benefits that we get from the oceans are endless but even then we forget that we should keep our oceans safe and healthy. Happy World Oceans Day!
• We human beings need the oceans more but the oceans need us too and it is important for one to survive to help in the survival of the other. Happy World Oceans Day!

World Oceans Day: Slogans

• Be a wise man, Ocean is not a garbage can.
• Life’s at ease, with a fresh ocean breeze.
• Save our oceans
• Keep the ocean clean, for safe swimming.
• Protect our oceans to protect our future.
• Save the Sea to See the Future.
• Ride the tide, take the green side.
• Oceans are getting sicker,
  let’s do something quicker
• The sun and the sand make beaches beautiful;
  marine pollution has made their condition pitiful
• Save our oceans! Save our reefs.
• Don’t be a thief, save coral reef.