Seafarers have the power to monitor and protect our oceans
By Felicity Landon
Citizen science is all about public participation and collaborating in research, to build up knowledge and data. When it comes to the ocean, who better to be those citizen scientists than our seafarers?
The concentration of plastics in our oceans increased from around 16 trillion pieces in 2005 to an estimated 171 trillion in 2019 and scientists have warned that this volume could triple by 2040 if no action is taken. These stark figures were reported by scientists last year as nations signed the UN High Seas treaty aiming to protect 30% of the oceans. Meanwhile, chemicals, oil spills and other pollutants add to the mix – as National Geographic reported in August, a once flourishing ocean ecosystem is on the brink of collapse.
What can seafarers do about this? The answer is probably a whole lot more than they think, from taking pictures to reporting dolphin sightings to learning more and setting good standards in everything from engine maintenance to choice of cleaning products.
“Seafarers – you have the most important role in the world, more important than all the scientists”, says Graeme Somerville-Ryan, founder of Eyesea. “Please take pictures and understand that these pictures have far more impact than you think.”
Eyesea has a mission to map global pollution and maritime hazards through photographs taken and submitted by anyone on or near the ocean. When it comes to reporting and understanding “carpets of pollution” on the oceans, “you don’t need a scientific approach – you just need a seafarer, because they understand the sea”, says Somerville- Ryan.
He says that when Eyesea was set up in 2020, there was a lot of talk about marine pollution, its effect and the scale of the problem but regulations seemed to be only about making life at sea harder – “very much punitive, where shipping would be punished, not where shipping can help”.
“Nobody seemed to ask seafarers for their ideas. We realised, if shipping wants to be involved, seafarers are the assets to help. So our approach is looking at how ships and seafarers can be involved in ocean protection, not being criminals of the sea – and that seems to have hit a chord.”
Down the lens
A picture, as they say, is worth 1,000 words. Eyesea is all about the impact on the public and on legislators to drive change: “Our job is to map and provide the data to others. How do you organise a group of volunteers to clean a beach on a Sunday afternoon? Pollution is an industrial problem now, so we need to look at industrial solutions – and it all starts with the data.”
Eyesea works with sponsors and funders to organise clean-up efforts on beaches and shorelines around the world. It is currently funding clean-up work in India, is looking at extending its presence in South America, and has signed MoUs with the Galapagos and Easter islands, where alarming levels of waste end up.
“My personal view is that picking up the rubbish in the ocean is an inefficient way of dealing with this – it’s better to pick it up on the beach,” says Somerville-Ryan. Funding raised by Eyesea helps with analysis of data, supporting recovery efforts including buying capital machinery, and recycling and processing waste. “If money is a limiting factor, we should look to spend resources where there is most impact on communities and where recovery is easiest.”
A picture of a cola bottle, a net or a giant piece of polystyrene floating in the middle of the Pacific will have an enormous impact on people who fund onshore clean-ups and on laws around pollution, he emphasises.
Somerville-Ryan believes that the ships and seafarers willing to collect this data by taking and uploading photographs will have the ‘guardianship of the ocean’ in their mentality. “When you take a photo, do you need wi-fi? No, you don’t – just GPS. When you are in the ocean, it doesn’t matter if you are a couple of kilometres out in placing the picture. It has been fascinating as we build up a map of visual sightings.”
Through its involvement with the Galapagos and Easter islands, Eyesea is now on the INC5 Global plastics treaty programme. However, Somerville-Ryan doesn’t suggest there are always simple solutions. “For example, there is no problem recovering waste in the Galapagos, it is how you get it off the islands to a processing unit elsewhere. Now we are asking: does the shipping industry have a role in moving this stuff off the islands?”
Prime protection
ORCA is dedicated to the protection of cetaceans – whales, dolphins and porpoises – and their habitats. The organisation believes that one of the most effective ways of protecting these beautiful creatures is by working with seafarers to achieve meaningful change. “By spending their lives at sea, seafarers of all types are uniquely placed to con- tribute to whale and dolphin conservation in a profound way. They can help ensure we leave the marine environment in a healthy state for future generations to enjoy,” it says.
Opportunities to get involved include training to collect scientific data for better understanding of changes in cetacean populations; learning more about the impact of shipping on large whales and how to minimise the risk of vessel strike; and embedding whale and dolphin conservation into operations to minimise the impact on marine life.
Anna Bunney, who manages ORCA’s seafarer engagement work, says: “ORCA knows that those who live and work at sea care most about the ocean. It’s their workplace and home. Having seafarers out there monitoring whales, dolphins and porpoises is helping us learn more so that our measures can be effective.”
Data collection is at the core of everything ORCA does, says Bunney. “We train up citizen scientists to go out on cruise ships and ferries to collect data. This helps us to look at species population and hotspots.”
Anyone can use ORCA’s OceanWatchers app – seafarers, oil rig workers, people commuting from the Isle of Wight to Portsmouth or someone standing on a headland looking out to sea. ORCA runs an e-learning course to enable more in-depth use of the app, or there’s a ‘light’ version available without any training.
“People record when they see the animals, and collect data on how long for, distance, time, etc., and also record weather conditions, because this greatly impacts the ability to see the creatures, so it gives context.”
All the data comes through ORCA’s portal for in-house analysis, which feeds into an annual cetaceans report.
“We have been working with the shipping industry for more than 20 years – in fact, we are based in the Brittany Ferries office in Portsmouth,” says Bunney.
Slowdown areas
ORCA works with seafarers to inspire them about the wildlife they are seeing, teach them about the creatures’ movements, and give them opportunities to get involved in the monitoring work.
“Seafarers are uniquely placed to continue dolphin conservation,” says Bunney. “If they collect data, this helps us to see where the hotspots are. As a result, we can make sure that slowdown areas are effective.”
ORCA’s vessel strike mitigation course can be delivered through its e-learning platform or as part of in- house seafarer training.
Bunney says one of the most concerning issues is around operational pressures and the need to meet tight port deadlines: “It’s having to get to a certain place at a certain time, because we know the best way to reduce a vessel strike threat in hotspot areas of whales is to slow down. However, there is a real need to increase our knowledge of where the hotspots are, so slowdown schemes can be effective – and this comes down to seafarers collecting the data.”
There is, of course, a tendency to speed up again after slowing down in the relevant area and whales might have moved – “they are a highly mobile migratory species and can be extremely unpredictable”, warns Bunney.
“We have focused our training on how to scan the horizon and spot them as far away as possible. Any slowdown gives the whales more time to respond and the ship more time to figure out which way the whales are going and understand their behaviour – for example, if they are resting or feeding, they don’t move out of the way.”
Her message to seafarers: “We want seafarers to be out there monitoring and helping us to learn more so that the measures taken can be effective.
Finally, no one wants to hit a whale. But reporting a vessel strike is really important, as it helps us to identify the hotspots to protect species at risk.”
Sails and sailors
Clean Sailors was set up to raise awareness of ocean conservation opportunities with the main focus on the global sailing community.
However, its aims are just as applicable to the commercial sector as the sport and leisure sector, says sailor and ocean activist Holly Manvell, founder of Clean Sailors. She has a foot in both camps – she recently served as commercial director at Falmouth Harbour.
Manvell recalls sailing double handed across the Bay of Biscay with her father in 2019. “You get a lot of time on watch. It was an exceptional place to be – days from land, the wonderful smell, the wildlife … and then you see a tonne of plastic bobbing about. We have known about plastic pollution for a long time, but it occurred to me that surely we as sailors, using and enjoying the sea, should be the first in line to protect it. Clean Sailors started as a blog, articulating what I was learning about our natural environment, combining my studies in geography and oceanography and my passion for sailing.”
Clean Sailors has grown from one to five projects and now has more than 60 partners around the world.
One of its biggest projects is Resail. “We had old sails off a family boat and were looking for anything to do with them, but found there was no formal recycling facility anywhere in the world for old sails,” says Manvell. She set up the first global platform for old sails and this now connects 33 projects in 11 countries so that sailors can find places that use their old sails rather than putting them in landfill. The old sails are mainly used for household and domestic goods but one project is looking at using old sails for building shelters for people displaced by war or natural disasters.
Clean Sailors has an online store selling sustainable kit and runs a newsletter and podcast. “Our doors are always open in terms of feedback, comments and questions,” says Manvell.
“Our premise is that the ocean, regardless of your profession, is the most important ecosystem on our planet. So, whether you are landlubber or seafarer, it is the same for all of us. The seafarer sees first hand what the ocean looks like, sees the wildlife, and sees the endless swells that have travelled thousands of miles.”
She believes that by listening, being inspired and learning about the ocean, people will want to protect it. That might just stop people flicking cigarette butts overboard (400 chemicals in each butt) or encourage them to use onshore pump-out systems rather than emptying tanks out at sea, reduce the use of single-use plastics or place more emphasis on engine maintenance. “About 5% of the oil and fuel in the water comes from the big catastrophic spills that make the headlines; the majority comes from day-to-day refuelling, engine emissions and oil leaks,” says Manvell.
Shipowners, managers and officers have a massive responsibility to set good standards, she says – for example, on policies around pumping out and engine maintenance. “It’s even down to the cleaning products you use on board. At times, unless there is legislation, it does take individuals to raise issues and say ‘we do really want to see this’.”
The younger generation is increasingly considering environmental and sustainability issues when choosing products, teams to work with or businesses to work for, says Manvell. “In terms of the future workforce, that is only going to increase in importance. We can put pressure on in a way that’s constructive. It is all about leading by example. If we all behaved poorly, imagine what society would be like.”
