CARIBBEAN 2017 INFORMATION

Transcription

1 CARIBBEAN 2017 INFORMATION

2 Hello! We would like to start by thanking you for your interest in exxpedition Caribbean 2017! LUCY OKSANA In 2016, we carried out our first annual voyage through the Caribbean Sea. We worked with individuals, organisations and officials on five island nations to conduct research and spread the mission and vision of exxpedition while showing the power of women in the face of global environmental challenges. On this voyage, our lead crew was made up of women from the first-ever exxpedition across the Atlantic Ocean in Emily Penn, co-founder of exxpedition and Skipper of the 2014 voyage was Mission Leader, Jennifer Pate, filmmaker for the 2014 exxpedition was Mission Coordinator and Shanley McEntee, 1 st Mate of the 2014 exxpedition, was our Skipper through the Caribbean. On land, we had exceptional support from Emily Bell, Lucy Gilliam and Diana Papoulias. In 2017, Lucy Gilliam, Founder of exxpedition and Oksana Lane, a Research Scientist, will co-lead this second annual voyage to build on the research conducted in 2016 and continue to foster and grow our relationships and impact on communities throughout the region. From the start we have always made very clear to all of the women who sign up that this is not a luxury sailing cruise through the Caribbean Islands. It is to be a powerful, important research voyage with a very strong outreach element, and that you will gain experience allowing you to become an exxpedition Ambassador back in your own country and community. This exxpedition will involve travelling to three island nations to coordinate meaningful events and activities - from school/university presentations to student research day sails, from beach clean-ups to waste management facility visits as well as meetings with government officials and NGOs. By joining us, you will be a key player in helping us lead the way to a healthier future. We look forward to having you on board! Lucy Gilliam Mission Leader, exxpedition Caribbean 2017

3 What is exxpedition? exxpedition is a series of all-female sailing voyages on a mission to make the unseen seen from plastics and toxics in the oceans to those in our own bodies. Our crews are made up of women from all over the world and are always multidisciplinary, which allows us to work together to find solutions to the diverse facets of this global problem. Where we have sailed so far: - exxpedition Atlantic 2014: ocean crossing from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to Martinique in the Caribbean; - exxpedition Ascension 2015: ocean crossing from Senegal to Brazil; - exxpedition Amazon 2015: across the mouth of the Amazon River from Brazil to Guyana; - exxpedition Caribbean 2016: through the Caribbean Sea visiting five island nations Trinidad, Barbados, St Lucia, Dominica & Antigua. Future voyages: - exxpedition Great Lakes 2016: one-day mass engagement event with a series of all-female lead boats across the Great Lakes region; - exxpedition Caribbean 2017: return to the Caribbean Sea to visit island nations; - exxpedition Round Britain 2017: circumnavigation of the British Isles visiting major ports. More future voyages are being planned, so please visit our website to receive updates:

4 Summary of exxpedition Caribbean 2016 exxpedition Caribbean 2016 was designed to have two legs with two different crews. Leg 1 sailed from Trinidad to Barbados & St Lucia with a crew of 12 women. Leg 2 sailed from St Lucia to Dominica & Antigua with a crew of 13 women. One of the most important parts of exxpedition is to ensure our crews are both international and multidisciplinary. The crews represented nine different countries in including England, Canada, Russia, Germany, Italy, America, Norway, Finland and Portugal! The areas of expertise the women brought to the voyage included but were not limited to marine biology, engineering, filmmaking, ecotoxicology, policy design, water therapy, biochemistry, underwater photography, geography, sailing and communications. Over the course of a month, we travelled a total of 550 nautical miles through the Caribbean Sea on board 72-ft sailing yacht Sea Dragon. Over the course of our journey we conducted: - 9 microplastic trawls for the 5 Gyres Institute (the first-ever in the Caribbean Sea); - 4 persistent organic pollutant (POPs) water samples for Orebro University in Sweden; - 8 nanoplastic water samples for the University of Georgia in the USA; - 8 microplastics water samples for Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation in the USA.

5 Summary of exxpedition Caribbean 2016 During our visits on the five islands, we visited and met with the following: Waste - Management Sites Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre, Barbados Deglos Sanitary Landfill, St Lucia Cooks Sanitary Landfill, Antigua Antigua & Barbuda Recycling Centre, Antigua Universities & Schools - Lockerbie College, Barbados - Codrington International School, Barbados - Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies, Barbados - The International School, St Lucia - Gros Islet Primary & Secondary School, St Lucia - Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, St Lucia - Portsmouth Secondary School, Dominica - Sunflower Pre-School, Dominica Authorities - Environmental Management Authority, Trinidad - Ministry of Planning & Development, Trinidad - Fisheries Department, Barbados - National Conservation Authority, St Lucia - St Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority, St Lucia - Dominica Solid Waste Management Corporation, Dominica - ECMANN Project Representatives, Dominica - Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, St Lucia - Fisheries Department, Antigua NGOs, - Businesses & Community Groups National Planning Committee, International Coastal Cleanup, Trinidad Global Shapers, Trinidad Caribbean Youth Environmental Network, Trinidad Trini Eco Warriors, Trinidad Future Centre Trust, Barbados The Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Bridgetown, Barbados Caribbean Tourism Association, Barbados Barbados Sea Turtles Group, Barbados Portsmouth Community Watch, Dominica Environmental Awareness Group, Antigua

6 exxpedition Caribbean Leg 2 Antigua & Barbuda Recycling Centre St John s, Antigua / March 2016 exxpedition Caribbean Leg 2 Deglos Sanitary Landfill St Lucia / March 2016

7 Summary of exxpedition Caribbean 2016 During our month-long voyage through the Caribbean, we recorded collecting over 4,000 articles of garbage on our Marine Debris Tracker app. The collection of these items was during formal and informal clean-ups on beaches, shorelines, in marinas, storm drains, streets, roadsides and parking lots. exxpedition Caribbean Leg 2 Castries Marina Tour St Lucia / March 2016 Many ditches along roadsides were full or trash and unsurprisingly garbage also collects in bays around the islands as shown in this picture to the right, taken in Castries Marina, St Lucia. In a space of only 20 square meters we counted: plastic bottle tops plastic bottles - 84 plastic bags - 64 plastic cups polystyrene/styrofoam containers However, this issue is not just here, it s everywhere, through the Caribbean and around the world. Even cities with some of the best waste management facilities struggle with the issue of plastics in their waterways and have to engage further efforts to keep them clean for environment and human health. In 2017 we will be working to explore how we can instigate real and lasting change in Caribbean communities and on islands to solve this issue. We were very encouraged to see so many organisations, authorities, community groups, and individuals tackling this issue everywhere we visited. We will be working with people on the ground in the run up to exxpedition Caribbean 2017, to gather information on the challenges they face, solutions they already have in place, and what they think we can do to help their island combat this issue effectively and efficiently.

8 exxpedition Caribbean Leg 1 Manta Trawling for Microplastics Sea Dragon February 2016

9 Summary of exxpedition Caribbean 2016 During our month-long voyage on board Sea Dragon, we conducted a total of 9 trawling sessions for microplastics. We followed the protocols and contributed to the dataset created by the 5 Gyres Institute. The trawl was deployed (as seen in the picture on the previous page) perpendicular to the boat and towed at a speed of 2 knots for 30 minutes per trawl. The contents of each trawl were rinsed through a set of three sieves of decreasing size. Noticeable organic and inorganic materials was separated and placed in petri dishes to be analysed under the microscope below deck. In these first-ever trawls for microplastics in the Caribbean Sea, we found the following baseline data for plastics: Barbados: 4 fragments/fibres (white, green, blue, clear) Barbados: 1 fragment (clear) Barbados: 15 fragments/fibres (various colours, styrofoam) Barbados: 9 fragments/fibres (white, blue and blue/green) St Lucia: 3 fragments/fibres (white, blue) St Lucia: 3 fragments (clear, yellow) St Lucia: 0 fragments Dominica: 2 fragments (blue) Dominica: 1 fibre (green), 1 plastic cup (clear, PP5) It should be noted that these are only a first snapshot of the plastic in the Caribbean Sea and that they should not be taken as representative. We would like to return and conduct more trawling in 2017 to start building a meaningful dataset for the Caribbean Region. They also only represent fragments we could see with the naked eye. We are still awaiting results from nanoplastic & ASC sampling. exxpedition Caribbean Leg 1 Trawl Analysis for Microplastics Sea Dragon February 2016

10 Summary of exxpedition Caribbean 2016 The Research The results of our sampling for microplastics, nanoplastics and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Caribbean Sea will contribute to international datasets about the extent of the plastics and toxics issue. It is vital for us to understand patterns in the presence of these pollutants in order to find solutions. We are dedicated to ensuring all of our research and findings are, and remain, open source. We have shared our initial findings with you on the previous page with regards to the microplastics trawling. However, as mentioned, we are still awaiting the results from the nanoplastics, ASC and POPs sampling, which will help us gain a fuller picture of what is happening in the Caribbean Sea with this pollution that is more often completely invisible to the naked eye. The Me search On each of the exxpeditions, the crew have had their blood sampled for 35 key indicator chemicals that have been banned and linked to negative impacts on human health. This is called Body Burden testing and we are working with the UN Safe Planet Campaign for this part of our research, which we have called Me search because we are looking within our own bodies. In our first crew (2014), which had women aged between 24 and 67, from all over the world, we found 29 of these key indicator chemicals. All crews have also been tested for mercury in hair samples. Our range of results from this first crew was 0.015mg/kg to 4.245mg/kg (under 1mg/kg is considered safe for the general population). This testing is conducted in partnership with the Biodiversity Research Institute in the USA.

11 exxpedition Caribbean 2017 The purpose behind exxpedition Caribbean 2016 was four-fold: 1) To focus on sharing the exxpedition mission and vision in the Caribbean Islands, while partnering this with our scientific research and our Me search; 2) To continue developing our worldwide group of exxpedition ambassadors to bring change back to their communities and countries; 3) To conduct the first-ever microplastic and nanoplastic sampling in the Caribbean Sea and provide baseline data to the countries we visit; 4) To build relationships with individuals, groups and authorities on the Caribbean islands we visit to form partnerships ensuring our work is meaningful. We will be returning to the region with exxpedition Caribbean 2017 and we want you to sign up and be part of our crew! - There are two legs you can choose from: Leg 1 8 th 16 th April will sail from Grenada to Barbados and on to St Lucia Leg 2 22 nd 30 th April will sail from St Lucia to Dominica and on to Antigua - We will be building on the data collected on the 2016 voyages, including manta trawling and POPs sampling; - We will also be conducting Me search, including hair samples for mercury and body burden testing; - We will also continue to foster and build our relationships with individuals, NGOs, community groups and authorities to work toward a healthier future for the Caribbean. To learn more and to apply for exxpedition Caribbean 2017, please visit our website:

12 APPLY NOW TO BE A PART OF THE CHANGE