Home News Science get invited on board the emblematic Belem to talk about the oceans and their preservation

Science get invited on board the emblematic Belem to talk about the oceans and their preservation

Partnership

9 May 2022

As part of our partnership with the Belem Foundation, our International Scientific Advisory Board takes over the famous three-masted ship for conference-events throughout the season.

For its first evening in Brest, the Belem welcomed 50 curious visitors for a conference organised by The SeaCleaners on the “drifts and torments of floating marine waste“. Led by our Scientific Director Gwenaële Coat, three members of our International Scientific Advisory Board were able to inaugurate this new conference formula:

  • Christophe Maes – Physical and Space Oceanography Laboratory – IRD
  • René Garello – Professor Emeritus – IMT Atlantique
  • Odeline Billant – PhD student – Marine Environmental Sciences Laboratory, UBO, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer

Plastic is omnipresent in our daily lives. Despite its utility, this very persistent material often ends up in our environment. Indeed, only 10% of the world’s plastic is currently recycled. Plastic waste, once at sea, can drift from one continent to another and is therefore a global problem. How is this drift studied and can we trust the models? Can we detect plastic using satellite images? Can we envisage collection solutions? If this is a global problem, are there any international or national laws to limit the presence of plastic along the coasts, in the open sea or on land? How do we fight against this phenomenon?

This scientific meeting, in the company of the crew of the Belem and its captain Mathieu Combot, provided an opportunity to review the current state of affairs on these various subjects, in order to understand how the scientific, legal and non-governmental players are acting to combat the tidal wave of ocean plastic pollution.

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For the rest of the season, The SeaCleaners will continue to sail with the Belem in order to offer conferences and awareness-raising workshops, both on board between stages, for the trainees, but also during the stopovers for the general public.

 

Join us for the next steps:

APRIL 16th-18th – ARCACHON, FR – AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIONS
MAY 20th, 18h30  – OSTENDE, BE, ON THE OSTEND AT ANCHOR: AWARENESS ACTIVITIES and SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE on plastics and climate change “THE OCEAN, THE SAVIOR OF THE PLANET? – See the programme. Information and registration: chiriane.hamla@fondationbelem.fr
JUNE 23rd-26th : BORDEAUX, FR  BORDEAUX WINE FESTIVAL, AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIONS
JULY 1st-3rd : FECAMP, FR, GRAND’ESCALE, AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIONS
OCTOBRE 1st-2nd : HONFLEUR, FR – AWARENESS-RAISING ACTIONS
NOVEMBRE 2022 – NANTES,FR : MICROPLASTICS CONFERENCE (DETAILS TO COME)

 

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