World Ocean Day celebration set for June 8 

Maui Ocean Center will celebrate World Ocean Day with family-friendly activities including live music, educational stations and marine naturalist presentations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8.

Discounted admission for kamaʻāina, with valid Hawaiʻi state ID, is $15 per adult and $10 per child (ages 3 and younger are free). Additionally, Maui Ocean Treasures gift store will offer 15% off sustainable products.

World Ocean Day is held each year on June 8 to “help unite and rally the world to protect and restore our blue planet,” organizers said.

At Maui Ocean Center, marine naturalists will host a coral feeding station and shark tooth dig activity along with presentations throughout the day. A diver program will take place at 11 a.m. at the Open Ocean exhibit featuring sharks, stingrays and schooling fish. 

In addition to regular screenings of the “Humpbacks of Hawaiʻi” 3D Sphere Experience, there will be special showings at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. of the film narrated in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian language.

The Marine Institute at Maui Ocean Center (MOCMI) will be among the conservation groups participating in the event. MOCMI is a nonprofit organization that helps both coral reefs and injured sea turtles. 

Other groups represented during Maui Ocean Center’s World Ocean Day event include Whale Trust, Stormwater Maui and NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Tickets can be purchased at mauioceancenter.com or at the front gate.