ALL-WOMEN CREW LAND IN WALES WITH PLASTICS WARNING
An all-women research crew stopped in Cardiff as part of an expedition warning of devastating levels of plastic in the sea.
Led by Penarth sailor and expedition co-founder Emily Penn, a 72-foot yacht called Sea Dragon arrived in Cardiff yesterday, taking its crew on a journey researching levels of plastic in UK waters.
The project, called eXXpedition, will continue travelling around Britain’s coast later this week to raise awareness of the effects of microplastics found in the sea.
The project was initially inspired after Cambridge graduate Emily sailed the world in 2008, where she saw alarming levels of plastic in the ocean’s most remote locations.
Along with a team made up of scientists, environmentalists and artists, Emily decided to launch a UK expedition to raise awareness of the effects of single-use plastic.
Beginning in Plymouth and then stopping in Cardiff, Belfast, Arran, Stornoway, Edinburgh and London, it is the first time the group have conducted research so close to home.
Emily, 30, said: “I’m really excited to be in Cardiff, I’m from Penarth so it very much feels like coming home and it’s very special.
“I left from Cardiff to sail around the world so it’s already been an important part of where it began.”
Emily, who represented Wales in sailing competitions as a teenager, said part of the decision to have allfemale crew lay with the particular effects microplastics can have on women.
The former Stanwell School pupil said: “Plastics in the ocean get into our food chain and that affects our hormones and particularly during fertility and pregnancy.
“The more we learn about chemicals the more we learn about how they affect women and the next generation.
“We may be seeing the more obvious impact of plastic and toxic pollution in the more remote parts of our planet, but what is clear is that the pollution is coming from land – the UK included.”
The group, who set sail from Plymouth on Tuesday for their 30-day challenge, arrived in Cardiff after facing widespread seasickness following rough waters on the Bristol channel.
As one of the 14 people aboard the vessel during the first leg, Cardiff-born crew member Gail Tudor joined the expedition to combine a love of sailing with an interest in the environment.
The 55-year-old filmmaker, who lives in Aberporth, said: “I live on the coast so when I heard about the mission it really rang a bell.”