CARIBBEAN 2016 SUMMARY

CARIBBEAN 2016 SUMMARY

Hello! Emily Jen Shanley We would like to start by thanking you for being an integral part of making the first annual exxpedition Caribbean a success! It has always been a key element to our planning to produce a summary of what was achieved on this exxpedition for the individuals, organisations and officials who acted as powerful liaisons for us as we travelled to your islands and communities. Your involvement and support was essential to our voyage and we look forward to continuing to build those relationships. This report is a summary of our month-long sail, where we conducted research and spread the word about the mission and vision of exxpedition to five island nations 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 2014. 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. We had exceptional support from Megan Evans (deckhand) and Emily Bell, Lucy Gilliam and Diana Papoulias on land. From the start we made very clear to all of the women who signed up that this was not a luxury sailing cruise through the Caribbean Islands. It was to be a powerful, important research voyage with a very strong outreach element, and that they would gain experience to help them become exxpedition Ambassadors back in their own countries and communities. With your help, we were able to coordinate meaningful events and activities during our time on the islands - from school/university presentations to day sails, from beach clean-ups to waste management facility visits as well as meetings with government officials and NGOs. You have been a key player in helping us lead the way to a healthier future. Thank you again on behalf of the entire exxpedition Caribbean 2016 crew and we look forward to working with you next year! Emily Penn & Jennifer Pate Mission Leader & Mission Coordinator exxpedition Caribbean 2016

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: www.exxpedition.com

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.

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

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

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: - 247 plastic bottle tops - 360 plastic bottles - 84 plastic bags - 64 plastic cups - 437 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. We would like to continue working with you on how we can instigate real and lasting change in your communities and on your 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. Although we discussed much in person, in preparation for next year s exxpedition Caribbean 2017, we would like to hear from you by email about the challenges you face, solutions you already have in place, and what you think we can do to help your island combat this issue effectively and efficiently. Please send your information and ideas to: jen@exxpedition.com

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

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

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.

exxpedition Caribbean 2016 & The Future 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 wanted to share with you how we intend to move forward with exxpedition Caribbean 2017 and beyond, as well as giving you some tangible ways you can help us make our next voyages more effective on sea and land. - We would like to return to the Caribbean Sea on board SV Sea Dragon with new crews of women who will become the next community of exxpedition Ambassadors around the world; - We would like to encourage organisations, businesses, government authorities to fund local women from each island to sail with us and become exxpedition Ambassadors in their own communities so that we can build a year-round presence; - We would like to reach out to marine scientists and engineers and learn more about the extent to which we are able to assist them with data collection; - We would like to continue working with you on how we can instigate real and lasting change in your communities and on your islands to solve this issue. We were very encouraged to see so many organisation, authorities, community groups, and individuals already tackling this issue everywhere we visited. Although we discussed much in person, in preparation for next year s exxpedition Caribbean 2017, we would like to hear from you by email about the challenges you face, solutions you already have in place, and what you think we can do to help your island combat this issue effectively and efficiently. Please send your information and ideas to: jen@exxpedition.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT www.exxpedition.com