Nicole Gordon - eXXpedition

September 12, 2019

by Soraya Abdel-Hadi
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This Saturday, we’re kicking off our third Virtu

This Saturday, we’re kicking off our third Virtual Voyage! ⁠
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For this condensed, one-day version of our virtual voyage, 7 women will be joining us (virtually) from across the globe, hailing from Australia, USA, France, Canada and the UK. Joining us onboard, our multidisciplinary crew includes an illustrator, an outdoor and environmental educator and a student!⁠
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This virtual voyage takes us to Vanuatu, a nation of over 80 islands which are volcanic in origin and feature long narrow coastal plains.⁠
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Stay tuned, we’ll be introducing the Vanuatu virtual voyage crew on Monday!

We're excited to announce that leading online reta

Our second Virtual Voyage is now complete! Here

Our second Virtual Voyage is now complete!

Here are some of the highlights:

11 women from 6 nationalities came together online for a 24 hour eXXpedition Virtual Voyage over two weeks

The crew collected 600 pieces of plastic debris in their local areas, across 4 different countries during their litter survey

During Watch 5, our crew took part in a virtual “Talanoa,” joined by local Fijian representatives to discuss how the plastics issue is affecting the island nation, and solutions from sea to source.

When it came to taking action following the voyage, crewmember Taylor said: “I’m going to continue with cutting-edge research in this space and become a leading subject matter expert and advocate for plastic-free and zero-waste lifestyles, economies, societies, and future.”

Thank you to our wonderful crew for joining - stay tuned for the next leg, which will take us to Vanuatu!

Watch 5 took this leg of our virtual voyage to the

Watch 5 took this leg of our virtual voyage to the Republic of Fiji, is a Melanesian island nation that comprises more than 330 islands.

Like many island nations, Fiji has been affected by plastic pollution, with waste management a major concern. Plastics have also been declared a food security issue by Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) Kosi Latu.

But Fiji has been working to tackle the plastics issue. In January 2020, a ban on the manufacture, sale and supply of single-use plastic bags went into effect in efforts to achieve a plastic-free nation. And a year later, a ban on polystyrene products in the country went into effect on 1st Jan 2021, as part of the government’s Climate Change Act.

Happy Anniversary to Round the World Leg 7! - This

Happy Anniversary to Round the World Leg 7!
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This time last year, our Round The World crew had just set sail from the Galapagos to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) with @perkinelmer!
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After collecting 5 shoes, 44 bottles, 77 pieces of styrofoam, 240 pieces of rope, 1 t-shirt and 3380 microplastics during a beach clean on a remote beach with @galapagossc in the Galapagos, the crew set sail for Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
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The Leg 7 crew sailed 2009 nautical miles across the ocean, including through the infamous South Pacific Gyre.
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“Beyond the floating plastic we see with the naked eye as we sail towards the South Pacific Gyre, every time we test the water, using the manta trawl and Garrett screen for the surface water, Niskin bottles for the subsurface and Van Veen Grab Sampler for the sediment, they confirm the presence of plastic.” - Crew member @carrysomers
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Back on land, the crew were treated to an incredible welcome ceremony and hosted an outreach event, attended by more than 50 people.
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Consisting of 10 women from 6 nationalities, onboard this leg, the multidisciplinary crew included a fashion activist, a food security manager, a psychologist, a creative consultant and a lawyer!

From sailor to architect to engineer, each of the

From sailor to architect to engineer, each of the multidisciplinary women on our virtual voyage crew has brought their own, unique “superpower” and area of expertise to this leg of our voyage.⁠
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Here are some of the incredible superpowers that our crew have brought to the second leg of our virtual voyage...⁠
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Conservation architect ⁠
Circular design and systems thinking⁠
Marine Conservationist⁠
Non-Profit Management⁠
Artist - Environmental Technician⁠
Natural Resources Management Specialist⁠
Mechanical Engineer⁠
Sustainable Interior Designer⁠
Environmental and Safety Engineer⁠
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Everybody can harness their skills and superpowers to make a difference in their lives, communities and part of the world! What’s your superpower? Let us know in the comments!⁠
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Photo by Erica Cirino

Can you guess what the most commonly found item on

Can you guess what the most commonly found item on our crew’s litter survey was?⁠
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Recording their litter on @UniGA’s Marine Debris Tracker App, our virtual voyage crew picked up over 600 pieces of plastic debris in four different countries across the globe - including Singapore, USA, UK and Australia!⁠
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Head over to our blog now to see the full results of the survey! (link in bio)

From the UK to Singapore to Australia, Leg Two of

From the UK to Singapore to Australia, Leg Two of our virtual voyage headed out to their local areas to conduct a waste management survey using the Marine Debris Tracker.

Here’s what they had to say...

“I did my first walk along one of our beaches that has a very obvious transition point between being a sandy beach to being a rocky beach. I was happy to see that it was fairly clean on both, but it was definitely noticeably worse on the sand. I did a second transect on my road, which I know is frequently dumped on, but didn't spot a lot on top of the snow layer. I'm sure it was probably tenfold below!” - Ellen @seadisco

“Did my first tracker walk along the Thames. Due to the flooding there was a lot of debris, really quite shocking.” - Lynn @lynnelambourne

“I did one transect in a mixed use residential/retail area, and one in a park. In both cases, it was sad to see so many cigarette butts, both for environmental and human health reasons. And depressing to see a few large pieces of waste (pizza slice container, plastic drink cups) that couldn’t have been dropped unintentionally. All with trash and recycling options easily accessible nearby!” Alex

“Did my cleans yesterday! Although it weirdly mapped me all over the place and accounted for a very long distance vs 100m but I found SO much on the beach. My eyes are always on the look out for litter but it was quite saddening to see how many little bits you don't see until you're looking for them!” - Pippa @philo_and_co

“These sidewalks are cleaned almost daily. I'm baffled that styrofoam is still commonly used in Singapore... there were very many small fragments of that.” Celine @celinelimjl

“I did one in a recreational area and picked 56 pieces of plastic out of a hedgerow alongside a stream - lots of plastic food wrappers, a highlighter pen (!), plastic bags, bottle tops and plastic glove. Then I did a data collection in a commercial zone on a path in front of a curry house and a few other takeaway outlets.. picked up 131 items .. mainly cigarette butts, face mask, plastic wraps, bottles…” - Katie @katieredfern_meaningful

Tomorrow we’ll be revealing the results of the litter survey!

Meet the crew! Last Friday, the crew onboard the

Meet the crew!

Last Friday, the crew onboard the second leg of our virtual voyage met with Mission Leader Sally (@PlanetEarthrowl) for the first time. Joining us this leg we have…

Nicola de Quincey @nicoladeq
Taylor Maddalene @finding_tay
Sibel Bulay
Marjan Verschraegen @ocean_trash
Katie Redfern @katieredfern_meaningful
Pippa Corry @philo_and_co
Tünde Kelemen @blue_deepforest
Ellen Reynolds @seadisco
lynne Lambourne @lynnelambourne
Alex Michalko
Celine Lim @celinelimjl
Tharakara Sriram @oe_oceaneducation

Thank you to their sponsors for supporting their virtual journey, including Little Ship Club, Orange Beach Alabama, BAM Bamboo Clothing and Storm Brands!

Find out more about the virtual voyage crewmembers on our website - link in bio

We’ve kicked off the second Virtual Voyage! ⁠

We’ve kicked off the second Virtual Voyage! ⁠
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On this leg, we will be joined by 11 women from across the globe, hailing from Singapore, Belgium, the USA and the UK. From conservation architect to non-profit manager, each woman will bring their own unique superpower as the explore the plastics problem and its solutions.⁠
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We’ll be keeping you updated… stay tuned!⁠
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@lynnelambourne @celinelimjl @nicoladeq @finding_tay @katieredfern_meaningful @philo_and_co @seadisco

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