Images of coral reefs splashed the walls of the Ocean Reef Club at the Coral Restoration Foundation’s sixth-annual Raise the Reef gala Saturday.

“It’s our opportunity to celebrate the oceans and reef conservation, and invite our supporters to participate with us for one evening to learn more about ocean reefs and support conservation internationally,” says Scott Winters, CEO of the Key Largo, Florida-based nonprofit that grows corals in underwater nurseries and outplants them on local reefs.

A silent auction and cocktail hour kicked off the evening, where guests bid on items from gift baskets and fine jewelry to weekend getaways and scuba gear. Then came dinner and a fast-paced live auction. Bidder numbers were flashed high as custom pieces of artwork, limited-edition watches and luxury vacation packages brought in tens of thousands of dollars for the foundation.

The gala’s guest of honor was Richard Vevers, CEO and Founder of The Ocean Agency and star of the Netflix Original Documentary Chasing Coral. Vevers spoke to the audience about his work at The Ocean Agency, a nonprofit dedicated to marine conservation and coral restoration in particular.

The Ocean Agency conducted its very first expedition at the CRF nursery in 2013. From there, Vevers’ team visited more than 26 countries, taking over a million images of reefs for projects such as Google Underwater Street View and Chasing Coral, which depicted the team tracking coral bleaching worldwide.

Vevers says he was honored to speak at Raise the Reef and show how The Ocean Agency’s mission aligns with that of CRF.

“The work that’s being done on restoration projects is really critical now so that we understand how we can help reefs restore, especially once we stabilize the climate system,” Vevers says. “On our side, we’ve really been focusing on the awareness — making people aware of the issues facing coral reefs, and now focusing on those global solutions.”

You can check out more video from the Raise the Reef gala below.