Trapped Heart

Hi everyone
It's been a while since I posted but loads has been happening.  I've already started planning and buying my gear, canvas yachting shoes and wellies, sun hat, shorts and merino wool thermals.  We only have a tiny space each to stow our gear and we are aiming to keep plastic items to a minimum, particularly avoiding fleece fabric clothing.  Fleece sheds fibers, particularly during washing, and we expect to find these fibres in our micro plastic samples.  It's important not to risk accidental contamination of our samples from our clothing.

It's less than 6 weeks until we set sail from Plymouth.  I have raised 25% of my own expenses through my gofundme page and selling plastic art and cards.  As a team we have raised 10,000 pounds through crowd funding to cover our out reach expenses, renting venues for talks, science, art workshops etc.  A set of my sea plastic art cards were one of the gifts on offer.  (My gofundme page is still open www.gofundme.com/plasticseas

My planning roles have included arranging a venue in Stornaway, An Lanntair, an arts centre.  We will be met there by Jill Smith, a local artist that I met many years ago and have invited to join us.  I have also been liaising with Dr Lewis Hou from Edinburgh University, to run a pop up science workshop in a shopping centre during the Edinburgh Fringe; we will have hand held magnifiers and microscopes that can be fitted with mobile phones to take pictures, for examining micro plastic samples that have been collected.  The following day, fellow Macclesfield resident and crew member, Jess and I will be running workshops at ASCUS in Edinburgh.

Myself and another crew member will be the science co-ordinators on the second leg of the expedition.  This will involve detailed analysis of micro plastic samples; measuring, counting, recording.  I will also be involved in beach cleans and art workshops in other ports.  I have liaised with other artists and organizations, introducing Muddy Fingers, a waste plastic art collective to the expedition.  Muddy Fingers will be joining us on our return to Plymouth and running an arts workshop.

I have been interviewed by both local radio stations to Macclesfield, Canalside and Silk Radios, and done an interview with the Macclesfield Express.  I have a talk planned on July 13, at the Snow Goose cafe bar in Macclesfield, with a BBQ supper, if anyone can make it.  I will also be talking at the Macclesfield Scibar on my return.  Other talks are being planned.  On July 24th I am meeting with the Marine Conservation Society in Ross on Wye.