Essential Information
| Type | Events and festivals |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and Times | Saturday 7 June 2025 |
| Prices | Free |
Celebrate our brilliant blue planet this World Ocean Day at the National Maritime Museum.
The National Maritime Museum is home to hundreds of years of seafaring history, from the vast Pacific to the icy Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.
But our relationship to the sea is changing. World Ocean Day is your chance to explore how the ocean impacts us – and how we impact the ocean.
Whether you want to meet scientists and ocean experts, take part in workshops or enjoy live music, we’ve got plenty to float your boat!
Keep an eye on this page for more details coming soon, and sign up to our newsletter to hear about more exciting events in Greenwich.
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Discover equipment used by real polar scientists
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Get stuck into a range of free craft activities
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Meet ocean scientists and learn more about how we study the ocean
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Enjoy live music and performances
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Discover museum objects connected to our seafaring history
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Celebrate cultures and communities connected to the ocean
What is World Ocean Day?
World Ocean Day takes place on 8 June every year as a celebration of the ocean and our continuing reliance on it.
Over 70 per cent of our blue planet is covered in water, and more than half of all the oxygen we breathe comes from ocean plants. We rely on the ocean for food security, transportation, coastal defences and much more.
Here in Greenwich, our World Ocean Day activities are inspired by UNESCO's seven principles of ocean literacy.
Ocean literacy is about understanding the impact the ocean has on our lives and wellbeing, and the effect we have on the ocean. We want to share how important the ocean is, in order to help create a positive change.
The principles focus on seven key areas:
- Earth has one ocean with many features
- The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth
- The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate
- The ocean makes Earth habitable
- The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems
- The ocean and humans are inextricably linked
- The ocean is largely unexplored.
For more ocean inspiration, why not check out our host of activities, resources and features available online?
Find stories you might like
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HMS Challenger: a trailblazer for modern ocean science
150 years ago, HMS Challenger departed England on a quest to explore the world’s oceans. Its impact is still felt today
Sailing without engines: a return to wind and wave power
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The peoples of the Pacific: on the 'front line' of climate change
What is the impact of global change change on Pacific communities? And what should the global response be when a person’s homeland is literally ‘going under’?
What are invasive species in the ocean?
Invasive species are everywhere in our ocean – but what does it mean when we say a species has 'invaded', and how do they spread in the first place?
The end of an oil rig's life
What happens to offshore platforms when they are decommissioned? Follow their final journeys from the North Sea to the breaker's yard
Why satellites are critical to fighting climate change
The polar ice sheets are melting six times faster than the 1990s. But thanks to earth observation satellites, we can at least measure the effect that climate change is having
Our Ocean, Our Planet
Our Ocean, Our Planet is a new online space at Royal Museums Greenwich dedicated to exploring the climate crisis and our relationship with the ocean
Explore the ocean in Greenwich
