Words by Smiley Team
Putting plastic pollution under the spotlight, campaign organisation City to Sea, has teamed up with environmental research organisation Darwin200 to embark on a 13 week voyage. A vessel named Pelican of London, modelled on Charles Darwin’s HMS Beagle, will set sail today to circumnavigate the UK, investigating the main sources and scale of plastic waste in the country’s surrounding waters.
They hope the research will help build public awareness of the impact single-use plastic has on UK coastal zones and the marine life that inhabits them. Onboard the ship, researchers will examine the impact of plastics on breeding grounds for birds and marine animals under threat, including whales, dolphins, bluefin tuna, sunfish and basking sharks.
“As we start to emerge from the pandemic, we believe it’s more important than ever to get the issue of plastic pollution back on the agenda and connect people to our precious oceans,” said City to Sea’s Head of marketing and campaigns.
“This first of a kind study will provide invaluable data as well as compelling evidence to inspire people, businesses and governments to get ship-shape when it comes to tackling plastic pollution. Our oceans locally and globally play a crucial role in our fight against climate change, and they need our help now, more than ever before.”
The two organisations plan to create “the world’s most exciting classroom,” live broadcasting the voyage to the public and schools around the country. They will share first-hand insights into the sorts of plastics they discover and its impact on marine life.
"We’ll certainly expect to see high numbers of PPE and other single-use plastic items, but I’m also interested to understand how much derelict fishing gear we find and to take sediment samples to investigate if microplastics are accumulating in these seabed habitats,” said Stephanie Lavelle, plastic researcher and project director of Sea Sanctuaries Trust, who is leading on the research for City to Sea.
The crew will undertake the voyage on the Pelican of London, a 45 metre-long tall ship which will leave Folkstone today, on 17th May, and terminate its journey in London on 13th August. Along the way it will stop by Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit, marking World Refill Day on the 16th of June.
“This summer, as we build-up to World Refill Day, we’ll be highlighting, not just the problem of plastic pollution, but some of the solutions too,” added City to Sea’s head of marketing and campaigns.
World Refill Day is a global public awareness campaign to prevent plastic pollution, a problem that is growing globally, with plastic waste expected to triple in the next 20 years.
Stewart McPherson, project leader for Darwin 200 explained: “We are very close to a tipping point of irreversible loss across the natural world. But we are not there yet. There is still time for change. Conservation is not about what we have lost but what we still have. Countless species and even entire ecosystems can be brought back from the brink of extinction. Darwin200, will empower tomorrow’s conservation leaders and impassion the global public to change the world and build a brighter future.”
Follow their journey and receive live updates from citytosea.org.uk.
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