Meet Katrina McQuail, an inspiring organic farmer from Ontario, Canada, and one of our early ambassadors! Katrina joined us on a transformative voyage to the Amazon in 2015, and since then, she’s been cultivating change in the agriculture world. At Meeting Place Organic Farm, Katrina combines her passions for community, sustainability, and environmental stewardship, finding […]
Meet Juliana, from Costa Rica, who joined us from Galapagos to Rapanui (Easter Island) on our Round the World Voyage. Currently in the UK, she works as a creative consultant, focusing on graphic design and science communication. We caught up with Juliana to discuss her passion for the ocean and the importance of creativity in […]
Meet Larissa Clark, former Head of Communications at eXXpedition and a key player since 2018. Riss was mostly found behind the scenes raising awareness, fostering action, and building powerful partnerships to tackle environmental challenges on land and at sea. With a colourful background in environmental justice and adventure travel, she’s a powerhouse of high-impact PR, […]
Meet Jess, who joined eXXpedition Ascension in 2015 sailing across the Atlantic from Senegal to Brazil on board 72ft Sea Dragon. Every day they sampled and analysed microplastics in the ocean’s surface water which had a profound impact on Jess. The experience of the voyage was the first step in Jess’ journey moving from an […]
Meet our ambassador Pallavi, a multidisciplinary designer who joined us for one of our Virtual Voyages! Now at the helm of her own business, Pallavi works at the intersection of creativity and tech, developing new ways to produce creative work – looking at alternative, innovative methods and materials, including virtual reality and compostable 3D printing. […]
Meet Erika Braccini, a happy designer working on eco-social development and implementing a life-centred design approach, which focuses on how design can create transformation, especially in relation to the coexistence between humans and other living beings. Since joining the Amazon Voyage in 2015 , she experienced a life changing shift and we wanted to find […]
Meet Pindy Bhullar, a Senior Programme Manager in the financial services industry. Her work involves problem solving and delivering lasting change. Pindy joined Leg 5 of our Round The World Voyage from Aruba to Panama in 2019 with a motivation to see the human impact for herself and help find innovative solutions. We caught up […]
Meet Lynne Lambourne – Designer, Sustainability Ambassador and founder of Warriors on Waste. Lynne joined Virtual Voyage Fiji in 2021 and is passionate about connecting people and companies to make being sustainable an easy option. We caught up with her to discover what she’s been up to! Tell us a bit about yourself I’m a Designer […]
Meet Natalie, an innovative Surf Therapy Provider based in San Diego. The ocean is an inseparable part of her life and has been the driving force behind the waves of change she has created in the realm of mental health. Since joining us in the Caribbean in 2016 she has become internationally recognised for her […]
Meet Lucy Gilliam, professional change maker, and co-founder of eXXpedition. With a degree in Biology, and PhD in Molecular Microbiology, her career has spanned academia, government, grassroots activism and supranational policy making. Currently, she works for Brussels-based NGO Seas At Risk, tackling climate impacts and pollution relating to the shipping sector. She has sailed on three […]
Meet Carol, a humanitarian, researcher and writer, who joined Leg 2 of eXXpedition’s Round Britain voyage. Carol works for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on migration, climate and health issues. During our discussion she recounts her experiences onboard and reflects on the power of storytelling and the importance of it within the medical and humanitarian space. […]
Meet Soraya, she is a sustainability professional who is passionate about taking a holistic approach to improving our planet. As well as previously working as our Operations Manager at eXXpedition, Soraya also joined the crew onboard leg 2 of the North Pacific voyage in 2018. Her focus is on sustainability and how there is more […]
eXXpedition crew member and scientist Laura Leiva gives us an insight into crew member and TV researcher Beccy Finlayson “26th bottles, not 26 candles”… Beccy laughed, as she carried a bag full of plastic bottles that made their way through the Pacific Ocean from Asia to the uninhabited Broken Islands. For sure a memorable day to […]
eXXpedition North Pacific crew member and marketing professional Meg Tapp shares how being on board has boosted her understanding of the science behind ocean plastic! “Being on Sea Dragon is all at once both exactly how I imagined it and nothing like it. The experience of being aboard with these incredible women is eye-opening in […]
Our film premiered at the Royal Geographic society for International Womens Day, 7th March 2015 to an audience of over 200 people! An exceptional evening made all the more special by the fact we had 13 of the 14 Atlantic 2014 crew present. Our first reunion since the tearful goodbyes in Martinique last December. Our […]
Hear from eXXpedition Director and Sea Dragon Skipper Emily Penn at TedXEastEnd. What can we learn about resilience from remote small island communities? Emily’s work and passion for conservation have taken her around the world, from picking up 56 tonnes of garbage to researching the impact of plastic pollutants on women’s health. In this talk […]
Join us for the premiere of the eXXpedition Atlantic documentary on the 7th of March at 5.30pm for a 6pm start. In honour of International Women’s Day, we are going to be the finale in a wonderful afternoon and evening event that celebrates women in exploration and field science, organised by Intrepid Explorers – King’s […]
For a few hours Monday morning the population aboard Sea Dragon increased 3-fold when the eXXpedition 2014 mission and journey was shared with 60 of Martinique’s school children. Sue, Malin, Laura, Maria, and Diana showed the children ages 5-11 and their teachers how the ship operated, while explaining what life was like aboard Sea Dragon. […]
Giddy with land, cold drinks and wifi, and full of a sense of achievement, our first few days in Martinique were busy. As the crew started to disperse, we continued to come together on Sea Dragon for a number of events. We have welcomed the other Atlantic Odyssey boats as they came in, and have […]
Thursday December 4th saw us experiencing mounting excitement at the prospect of reaching our goal, landing in Martinique. It was also one of our more magical days and evenings, with Mother Nature herself providing an incredible show. We entered an awestruck silence with the wonder of the setting sun, only to be further stunned in […]
16 27.26 N 56 46.76 W As we cruise ever closer to Martinique’s EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), situated 200 nautical miles around it’s coastline, today was officially the final day of science! We completed our last Manta Trawl gathering plenty of sargassum (seaweed) as well as a totally different array of organisms – watching a […]
17 47.97 N 54 04.76 W The miles really are beginning to speed by, despite the constant presence of gruelling heat and flat seas. Our skipper spoke the truth when she told us at the midway point that the days would now start to feel shorter and quicker. They are slipping through our fingers, and […]
18 43.01 N 51 54.28 W It is December! We celebrated the sunny warm day by happily singing and dancing along with “Feliz Navidad” and “All I want for Christmas is You” (we had excitedly awaited for the first day of December to play some Christmas music). It was another really hot day, and we […]
19 40.70 N 49 19.10 W The morning greeted us with an incredible sunrise and the company of a mixed pod of dolphins, including both clymene and spotted, entertaining us with their antics at the side of the boat for at least a quarter of an hour. The winds have died down to 10 to 15 […]
20’ 44,13 N 46’ 47,16 W Today all 14 of us succeeded in the International Buy Nothing Day mission by not buying anything! Easy! Another day in Sea-She Dragon has passed. Even with no more fresh fruit on board (eek!) we are still enjoying this amazing bold adventure all together in the middle of the […]
22 36.10 N 42 05.69 W Happy Thanksgiving America! We celebrated this holiday with three of our American shipmates – Diana, Shanley & Jenna. For many, it was their first Thanksgiving and although there was no turkey or “tofurkey” in sight, the occasion was complete with pancakes and the last of our fresh fruit (Eek!). […]
24°45.25’N 33°26.65’W Overnight, a new passenger joined us on board. One of the Atlantic’s liminal flying fish, existing magically in the borders between air and sea, fetched up on deck – to the great delight of our master dissector Diana. A late night analysis of the creature’s stomach contents showed an all-natural last meal. There […]
Saturday 22nd November 2014: Sea Dragon 25 53.53 N 28 25.52 W 780 miles down! After the storms of the past six days we had a beautiful Sunday morning with relatively calm seas, we got busy cleaning the boat, our laundry and ourselves. Lucy made pancakes – a special treat for those on watch – […]
Thursday night presented the very harshest conditions yet. After breaking the yankee and tearing the staysail, the wind continued to pick up until it was 30 knots gusting 40 kts with a deep swell. The skies were pitch black and moonless as squall after squall hit us presenting challenging conditions at the helm. At around […]
After months of planning and a week of intense preparation and educational activities at port in Lanzarote Marina, Seadragon’s Crew finally set sail Over the next three weeks we’ll be posting scientific findings, journal blogposts and updates on the state of the ocean and the plastics and micro-plastics as we sail. Exxpedition’s land crew member […]
eXXpedition crew are very pleased to welcome Karen McCarthy Woolf into our land-based crew in charge of our media and outreach while we sail. Karen is a poet and AHRC-funded PhD candidate at Royal Holloway, University of London whose research explores how collaborative and hybrid art forms can be used to write about nature and […]
We are delighted to introduce you to our Engineer in Residence Jenna. Jenna brings a wealth of expertise to eXXpedition enabling us to accurately characterise the plastic fragments we find in the ocean using nanoscale technology! Jenna is an Assistant Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia (UGA). She received her PhD […]
Maria is the latest addition to the crew. She graduated with a BA Hons in Fine Art from Camberwell School of Art & a Postgraduate degree in Art & Design Education from Goldsmith’s University, London. She is passionate advocate and lover of all things related to water. Maria’s work explores interactions between human manipulation of […]
eXXpedition are proud to welcome aboard Sue – Sailor, activist, ecotherapist, gardener, grandmother! Without doubt her therapy skills, cooking skills and long held perspective on environmental and community experience will enrich our mission. Sue is a coastal skipper, used to sailing offshore in scottish waters but never yet beyond St Kilda. This voyage brings […]
MAIDENTRIP is the story of 14 year olf Dutch sailor Laura Decker, as she sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. Must see viewing for the crew of eXXpedition! Directed by Jillian Schlesinger as her first film. Throughout the […]
