Alice Duret-Sauquet, of the Scherman group, is joining the student-led oceanic exhibition ‘Odyssciences’ to collect data on the Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans. Human activity has degraded the oceans leading to rising water temperatures and plastic pollution. Throughout the expedition, the team will collect scientific measurements while also raising public awareness of the importance of protecting marine ecosystems. If you're interested in updates on the crew's progress, you can follow their daily life at sea on their Instagram @Odyssciences.
Alice says: “We will be sharing our daily life at sea, our classroom visits in elementary schools all the way to universities, and we are promoting the role of women in science and sailing.”
Data collection
The crew will collect data for four different projects:
- Plankton sampling to check plankton healthy and diversity. (Plankton Planet’s PlanktoSpace project).
- Listening for dolphin song to monitor populations, alongside humpback and sperm whales. (Aquasearch).
- Sampling microplastics to map where microplastics are found on the surface of the oceans. (Oceaneye).
- Mangrove evaluations in Guadeloupe and Martinique to evaluate the impact of climate change on these fragile ecosystems. (In partnership with Raymond Ward of the University of Sussex).
Alice comments: “Regarding the mission, I’m really excited to finally start the expedition we’ve been preparing for the past two years. It feels like a dream come true! Of course, I also have some concerns: I want everything to go smoothly.
But this won’t be my first time at sea, as I’ll be the boat’s captain. I’ve already done a lot of light sailing, as well as cruises and regattas since I’ve been in engineering school. Plus, we’ll all complete sailing and safety training sessions before departure.”
