St Katharine Docks is pleased to host eXXpedition, Thames Estuary Partnership, Hermitage River Projects, the Port of London Authority, Kids Against Plastic, Thames21 and #OneLess for a two-day event exploring the problem of marine plastic pollution and the role we all play in contributing to the problem and what we can all do to help tackle the problem.
eXXpedition is a series of all women voyages to make the unseen seen, from the toxics in our bodies to the plastics in our ocean. On the 16th of November 2014, eXXpedition launched the first mission with a crew of 14 women setting sail across the Atlantic Ocean in search of answers relating to the health of our environment and to the health of our bodies. During an eXXpedition voyage environmental samples are collected to assess plastic and pollutants, feeding in these samples to wider studies investigating the impacts of toxics and plastics pollutants and linking this sampling to narratives of ecosystem health, personal health and the products we consume.
eXXpedition Round Britain 2017 is a three part mission aboard the S/V Sea Dragon, circumnavigating Great Britain sampling the waters for plastics and toxics as they go, according to the protocols developed by the 5 Gyres Institute. Launched from Plymouth on 7th August, they are sailing into the heart of all four of Britain’s capital cities to build on this growing plastic pollution awareness by publicising what is to be found in the waters closest to home, where we swim, surf, sail, snorkel and fish. By the time they reach London, they will have visited Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh, as well as the Isle of Arran in the Clyde and sailed through the Caledonian Canal.
Please join us for what is set to be a stimulating and informative two days alongside the Thames, the gateway to the ocean.
Thursday 31st August, 2017
10am – 4pm: eXXpedition and partners stalls will be open outside The Dickens Inn, including:
- eXXpedition – information on their work and goodies you can buy to help fundraise their activities and make art out of beach litter with Candy Medusa.
- Kids Against Plastic – meet the inspirational Amy (14) and Ella Meek (12) who are campaigning nationally against single-use plastic. Take part in a bioplastic workshop making some casein (milk protein) plastic to mould into beads or ornaments to take away and decorate at home or make a reusable bag-for-life from a t-shirt (supplied).
- Thames Estuary Partnership – take part in art activities such as painting, drawing, colouring in or make a badge then pledge to go #OneLess to join the refill revolution and stop using single-use plastic water bottles!
- Port of London Authority – come along and find out what you can do for a Cleaner Thames and their For Fishes Sake campaign.
- Thames21 – come and find out about the Thames River Watch Project and how you can get involved in cleaning up the Thames beaches.
10:15am-1:30pm: Sign up for a tour of Pangea Exploration S/V Sea Dragon, the vessel that eXXpedition will have navigated around nearly the whole UK – sign up for a tour and meet the team! Sea Dragon will be docked at St Katharine Pier, sign-up sheets will be available at the eXXpedition stall – first come first served.
Friday 1st September, 2017
10am – 9pm: eXXpedition and partners stalls will be open inside The Dickens Inn in the Function Suite. There will be signs and people to guide you.
10:15am-1:00: S/V Sea Dragon boat tours. Sign-up sheets will be available at the eXXpedition stall – first come first served.
*1:00 – 2:00 VIP visit for FOSKD on board SV Sea Dragon. Drinks and nibbles provided
4pm – 9pm: Film Screening in the Function Suite, The Dickens Inn
Come along and see a range of documentaries tackling the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean. There will be a cash bar where you can buy food and drink throughout the evening.
4pm (45mins + Q&A) – Flows by Klaus Thymann: Flows leads you on a journey never before taken, exploring the aquifer on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Flows will show you unique footage from the air and underwater, taking you more than a kilometre into a submerged cave system to see the incredible mirror mirage where salt and fresh water meet, discovering a prehistoric skull more than 10,000 years old and much more. 4pm, 45mins + Q&A with Klaus himself
6pm (40 mins + Q&A) – eXXpedition: Making the Unseen Seen: eXXpedition is a 40-minute film documenting the journey of 14 women who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on a scientific research mission to make the unseen seen – from the plastics in our oceans to the toxics in our bodies.
8pm (45mins) – A Plastic Whale by Sky Ocean Rescue Campaign: A stranded whale that died with a stomach full of plastic has a message for us: we need to act. Our household rubbish is polluting every single part of our oceans, at every possible depth. And it is killing our marine life. The Cuvier’s beaked whale feeds far out to sea at depths of a mile or more – and yet one died with dozens of plastic bags in its stomach. The animal, which stranded near Bergen, Norway, had mistaken so many bags for food that its stomach was stuffed with plastic. This is not the first animal to die because of widespread plastic pollution – and it won’t be the last. Sky Ocean Rescue is doing something about it. WARNING: there are some scenes of blood from the whale in the ocean which some may find distressing.
