Imagine yourself at sea in the middle of nowhere, you lean over the railing and there you see them: plastic waste. A whole concentration of small and large debris from the land that, by the chance of ocean currents, particularly oceanic gyres (a sort of vortex), end up concentrated in the same place. These places, as there are several, are called the 7th continent. They are not solid but consist of a soup where plastic reigns, whether it is clearly visible or not. This is the observation made by Patrick Deixonne, navigator, explorer and founder ofExpedition 7th Continent during his solo rowing trip across the Atlantic in 2009.Scientific expeditions in areas of high plastic waste concentrationFrom that moment on, he organized exploration missions to study the dispersion and accumulation of plastic in the ocean and to alert the public and policymakers about the seriousness of the situation. In 2013, Patrick Deixonne set off with his team to the North Pacific aboard a sailboat. The first alarm call was made. In 2014 and 2015, the destination was the North Atlantic gyre, with the support of prestigious research centers such as the CNRS, the CNES, andESA and Mercator Ocean. Measurements, samples, and satellite readings are carried out to characterize plastic pollution. In 2016, two new missions are planned: between May and June an expedition in the Bay of Biscay and in December towards the South Atlantic gyre. It is aboard the Marama, a 31-meter sailboat and the new ambassador of the expeditions, that the entire team will go to uncover plastic pollution.
Different stages on land to meet the French Expedition 7th Continent organizes from May 12 to June 15, 2016 a sensitization tour for the educational caravan in 10 French cities to meet with schoolchildren, the public, local industrial and political actors to raise awareness of the issue of plastic waste dispersion. For the association, public awareness and citizen mobilization are inseparable from research to limit this pollution.
– From May 12 to 15 in Boulogne-sur-Mer at the national sea center Nausicaá, kick-off of the 2016 7th Continent campaign, on the program: press conference, TV platform broadcast in several schools, beach cleaning, public awareness, meetings, discussions and debates with the whole team, and visit of the boat…
– On May 17 in Troyes et on May 18 in Châtillon-sur-Seine meeting with high school students (Sainte Maure high school on the 17th and La Barotte high school on the 18th) to raise their awareness of the problem of plastic pollution.
– On May 20 and 21 in Rouen, the Expedition 7th Continent caravan lands.
– On May 23 and 24 in Le Havre on the beach esplanade which will host the whole Expedition 7th Continent team, the Marama, and the caravan.
– On May 27 and 28 in La Rochelle at the port opposite the Aquarium, Expedition 7th Continent will particularly meet with students from the project Argonautica conducted by the National Centre for Space Studies and all the residents of La Rochelle are invited to come and talk with the team.
– On May 31 and June 1 in Bayonne, the Expedition 7th Continent caravan and the Marama with scientific teams will be present to take micro-particle samples in the Adour thanks to the support of theAdour Garonne Water Agency.
– On June 4 and 5 in Toulouse, at Place de l’Olivier.
– On June 7, 8 and 9 in Bordeaux at Cap Sciences where the Marama and the educational caravan will be welcomed. Micro-particle samples in the Garonne are planned with scientific teams thanks to the support of the Adour Garonne Water Agency.
– On June 8 in Paris, at the Palais de la Découverte, for World Ocean Day, Expedition 7th Continent is organizing a special day to celebrate ocean protection. For the event, Paris will be linked via video conference to Bordeaux.
– On June 11 and 12 in Caen during the Rast’Art festival, a great opportunity to raise awareness among the few thousand festival-goers expected for the occasion.
– On June 14 and 15 in Paris, the Expedition 7th Continent caravan will meet the Parisians.
A contest to mobilizeFrom May 30 to June 5 are the European Sustainable Development Days, June 5 is World Environment Day, and June 8 is World Ocean Day, whose theme this year is plastic pollution. During this period, all collective mobilization is encouraged in the organization of clean-up days massively shared on social networks with hashtags: #plasticpollution #7eContinent. The organizer of a clean-up operation that manages to mobilize the most participants and gathers the largest volume of waste while sharing as much as possible on social networks will be rewarded. The prize awarded is a trip to Martinique to meet Patrick Deixonne and his team thanks to the support of the airline Air Caraïbes… It’s up to you to play the game!A comic book by Dominique Sérafini After having sailed aboard the Calypso with Commander Cousteau to create the famous comic book series « The Adventures of the Cousteau Team », Dominique Sérafini has left his sailboat and resumed his drawing board and brushes to write a new story with Patrick Deixonne. » The Plastic Monster « , is its title, releases on May 12, and the caravan will use it for the educational tour conducted throughout France. The book retraces the story of the 7th Continent expeditions to inform and raise awareness about ocean plastic pollution.
Morgane CONSTANTIN