The evening of Saturday November 3rd was a very proud moment for Cayman based dive centre owner Jo Mikutowicz as she and her team from Divetech attended the 2018 Festival of Seas Gala.
The event that took place in the Grand Old House on Grand Cayman included an award ceremony that recognised the efforts of local businesses and individuals for their marine conservation efforts.
This year, Divetech had been nominated for the Ocean Conservation Company of the Year Award. Nominees for the prestigious awards are reviewed by the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) who organised the event.
It is Divetech’s ongoing commitment to ocean conservation that had led to their nomination. Miss Mikutowicz explained “We do all kinds of work to help the environment we love, from extensive efforts in lionfish eradication to our coral regeneration program, even providing non-toxic hair and body wash products on our boats for our guests to use. My team members are ambassadors for environmental best practices and seek to educate their students and divers at every opportunity they get, as such I am thrilled that our efforts have been recognised here tonight”
The award ceremony however was just one aspect of the Festival of Seas Gala. Key guest speaker Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of the late Jacques Yves Cousteau was in attendance to talk about the importance of our oceans and an auction was held on site to raise money for ocean conservation programs.
In addition to shining a light on the plight of the planet’s oceans and those who are striving to help us turn a corner, the event managed to raise thousands of dollars for ocean conservation programs. The night will be remembered as a show of strength from committed members of a community who continue to push for change.