Bretagne, July 2022
This outdoor participatory science excursion is part of the European research program Interreg PPP (Preventing Plastic Pollution) led on the French side by the public laboratory Labocéa and for which Watch The Sea is partner since 2020.
Carried the first day by a light wind on calm waves, then the two following days by a rough sea, three seatrekkers of our team based in Brittany have realized from Friday 22 to Sunday, July 23, 2022, the tour of the Cap de la Chèvre and Cap Sizun (Finistère, 29).
Leaving for 3 days and 2 nights in total autonomy, they covered wild and remote sections of coast in the respect of the rules of safety at sea and by applying the philosophy of "Leave No Trace".
All this in order to :
1. Collect the waste accumulated at sea and on the top of the beaches;
2. Categorize the collected waste (weight, volume/type) in order to compare the level of accumulation from one year to the next.
These data will be used to guide awareness campaigns to be conducted in the watershed (schools, associations, fishing committees, public structures, etc.) according to the origin of the waste identified by them.
Summary of output (data to be consolidated):
- Duration: 3 days and 2 nights
- Number of participants : 3 (4 on the second day)
- Total distance covered at sea : 18,1 km
- Distance covered on land : 6,6 km
- Estimated origin of the waste: 70% sea, 30% land
- No waste observed at sea (neither floating nor on the bottom, but poor visibility)
- Total weight of waste : 20 kg
- Volume collected : 120 Liters
Thank you all for your participation!
