On board the Belem, science is invited for the last conference of the year

Gwenaële Coat invited 4 speakers, oceanographers and experts on marine plastic pollution, to the deck of the Belem for the last conference of the year. On the agenda? Microplastics and their impact on health and marine biodiversity.

Plastic is omnipresent in our daily lives. Beyond the macro plastic waste so visible in the streets of our cities, on our beaches and floating in our seas, what about microplastic? More pernicious because it is tiny and even invisible to the naked eye, it is everywhere: we eat, drink and breathe it. Where does it come from? Is it a microplastic from its conception or does it become one? But above all, what is its effect on the health of ecosystems and on our health?

Our five experts were able to discuss this question, which is the subject of much debate in the scientific world, and were able to present the sources of microplastic, the flows (cities and along the Earth-Sea continuum), the modalities and consequences of their ingestion by marine organisms and finally the myths and realities about the fears linked to their entry into the human food chain.

INTERVENANTS

• Gwenaële Coat, Head of Science, The SeaCleaners
• Johnny Gasperi, Research Director, Université Gustave Eiffel, Laboratoire Eau, Environnement et Systèmes Urbains (Leesu), Campus de Nantes
• Jean Le Bideau, Expert in materials science and member of our Science Advisory Board, Professor Nantes Université , Institut des Matériaux de Nantes
• Marie-Hélène Ropers, INRAE , Biopolymers Interactions and Assemblies Unit
• Aurore Zalouk, Professor Nantes Université, Institut des Substances et Organismes de la Mer

2022 was marked by a major partnership with the Belem Foundation, which began during the Transat Jacques Vabre. On that occasion, our teams went on board the iconic three-masted ship to establish a collaboration that combined science, awareness, and discovery of the ocean.

One year later, we are happy with this first assessment:

• Three scientific conferences which gathered more than 10 experts of the seas and plastic, and a hundred guests
• A week of awareness raising with the trainees of the Belem, during its journey from Le Havre to Nantes
• A training course on our educational tools for the crew
• An educational booklet to understand everything about ocean plastic pollution, for young people

While waiting for the winter to end, our teams are making sure you have a great program for this new year 2023! Stay tuned!