Pangaea Exploration

Post Tagged with: "adventure"

eXXpedition: Land ho!

by panexplore_u6q245 December 9, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

It did not take us long to get our land legs, and we followed tradition by dining at a local restaurant, Mango Bay, where we enjoyed Caribbean cocktails and food. We all sensed the outside world pressing in on our bubble at sea, with the cacophony of sounds and so many people. We could all sense that the time together was growing short and our new found friendships would have to be maintained at a distance. This incredible experience has left a mark on us all in quite unique ways and is likely only to be fully appreciated after our return to our homes and busy, daily lives, only days away.

eXXpedition: Inspiration from our skipper & sessions on the future

by panexplore_u6q245 December 9, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

Too close to land to do more science in the afternoon, we finished our series of talks with Emily, our skipper. She took us on a journey of her life, studies, and ultimately her thrilling adventures at sea, which have helped to shape her philosophy that brings us all here. Emily was one to “never say never,” leaving one career to pursue her adventures both on sea and land, all of which were geared toward building awareness of and creating more sustainable communities around the globe.

eXXpedition: Science, seaweed, and songs

by panexplore_u6q245 December 9, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

We ended the day with a touching and impassioned talk from our Head Scientist and co-founder of eXXpedition, Dr Lucy Gilliam. She is an incredible human being, with a wealth of personal and professional experience that has made her an astonishing advocate for the health of our planet. From her school day passion to stop logging in the rainforest, to her current fascination and determination to save the oceans, she is an inspiration to us all.

eXXpedition: The Future, climate, and toxics

by panexplore_u6q245 December 3, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

After our trawl work, we had a mission. We are supporting a campaign called The Future. This campaign is spreading awareness on climate change and telling our politicians “we are keeping an eye on you” by watching the political process and policies being created (or lack thereof). To represent The Future campaign, we encircled one eye with black or red makeup (eco-friendly) and took photos to share. We feel our mission of exposing toxics in our environment is connected to The Future’s mission, as well.

eXXpedition: A wind of active positivism

by panexplore_u6q245 November 30, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

We are still enjoying the amazing crew members’ talks, and yesterday evening we heard from the Norwegian environmental activist, Malin. Malin started her environmental activist career at the early age of 14, and then by 18, she was named Norway’s Environmental Hero after succeeding in her work to stop Hydro’s oil drilling off the southern coast of Norway. Even at her young age, her work has consisted of intense involvement at the intersection of environmental activism and political participation. Questions of where our energies are best directed arise directly from this. Her talk has kicked off an active discussion on board about how individual actions can move and inspire bigger decisions, even at higher political levels.

eXXpedition: Meet S.V. Sea Dragon

by panexplore_u6q245 November 27, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

All our meals are made in the galley, and we often gather in the salon to chat. Food scraps are saved in a small pail in the galley and dumped over the side to feed the fishes per regulations. The stovetop is gimbled so that it stays level as the ship rocks from side to side. There is also a small library in the salon with sailing and marine life identification books and also other relative books to our trip like, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story and Garbology. We normally eat our meals on deck in and around the cockpit and the helm.

Adios

by panexplore_u6q245 October 15, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

Lanzarote, on the horizon for hours as a question mark – cloud or land? – came into focus as an extended sprawl of volcanic hills. A fantastically arid landscape, all browns and tans like the dried pelt of a brindled creature, a stark contrast to the lush greens of the Azores. Clusters of white buildings ran in lines like barnacles on a low-tide rock.

Plankton Poo

by panexplore_u6q245 October 3, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

Steph, who is normally based at the University of Exeter, talked about the research she’s been doing en route. She’s asking two main questions: 1) where on our route will we find the most plastic and plankton occurring together; 2) can we find ‘real world’ evidence (as opposed to lab-based evidence, which already exists) that plankton ingest plastic? The critical question is the second one, and the method is brilliant.

Transitions

by panexplore_u6q245 October 2, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

That night, by now so used to falling asleep in motion, our berths surging and swaying through the waves, the sudden lack of movement felt unnatural and abrupt, as if someone had slammed on the brakes. These are truly strange transitions, I’m finding, from ocean and motion to stationary land; from the mini-world of our boat, at once small and yet travelling through an immensity of ocean and sky, to the endless-but-limited options of land-life.

Horizons

by panexplore_u6q245 September 25, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

On the early watch, a colourless sun turns the shifting waves to a runway of dynamic molten silver. At dusk, as the light leaches away, the sea turns pewter, then gun-metal grey, the wave surfaces etched and chiselled and constantly in motion. At night, there’s an immensity of stars, silent above the black sea. It’s the biggest space I’ve ever been in. It’s extraordinarily, exhilaratingly, utterly wonderful. And I suspect, as I notice my distinctly mixed reactions to the news that we might reach land tomorrow, addictive.

Cruising

by panexplore_u6q245 September 22, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

Highlights of the trip so far have involved dolphins; Steph giving an excellent talk about her research with laptop slides on deck and dolphins arching in the background; and bioluminescent dolphins lighting up a dark night like waterborne fireworks. From our perspective, in many ways so out of our element, that there are creatures so at home in the sea seems amazing. Amazing and, inevitably, bittersweet to watch them leaping and sparkling given what we know about how we are changing their world.

Brilliant

by panexplore_u6q245 September 19, 2014 in Uncategorized, Blog, Pangaea, legacy Comments are Disabled

Brilliant. That’s the word in mind today. The combination of people, skills, professions, interests and passions on board – marine scientists, photographers, film-makers, plastic pollution activists and campaigners, commercial project managers, conservationists, philosophers, generally interested folk and, of course, sailors. With luck and a fair wind, bringing these perspectives to bear on the horrible challenge that is ocean plastic pollution will throw up some genuinely constructive ideas and solutions.