Mahalo, Ngeniyerriya, Shukuriya, Baie Dankie, Diolch, Takk, THANK YOU

I am now home and have been in a whirlwind of visits from friends and family, preparations for my senior year, and transitioning back into college life at Michigan State University. Things are just now starting to settle into routine, as I am moved into my apartment and classes have already started. It is certainly good to be home and back in East Lansing, although I can't help but get nostalgic when reflecting back on the summer. With two journals overflowing with unforgettable experiences, a computer overloaded with photographs, and notebooks piled high with data, it is safe to say that my trip was a success and I could not be more grateful to those who made it possible. I received an abundance of support throughout my trip from so many people and organizations that assisted in finances, data gathering, cultural understanding, accommodations, packing, and so much more. From the gentleman at my local Moosejaw store who patiently brought out shoeboxes as I searched for the perfect walking shoe, to the friends and family who shared my excitement every step of the way- I have an endless list of people to be thanked.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank the Circumnavigators Club Foundation for offering the unique opportunity to enhance my education and personal growth with an international experience. Their generous support- from personal donations to guidance along the way- was the foundation for my successful experience.

One cannot measure the invaluable assistance I received along the way from all of my gracious hosts who provided me with accommodations, food, rides, data, guidance, genuine interest in my project, and ultimately, friendship.

The strong support group I had back at home is truly what kept me going on a day-to-day basis. These are the friends and family who worked "behind the scenes," making sure I stayed happy and healthy along the way. The steady influx of emails was a constant source of encouragement and the enthusiasm they showed was so inspiring.

A heart felt thank you to everyone who played a role in my trip. I certainly would not have succeeded without you, and please know that my door is always open to you all.

Luck to you!

Gabby

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Detour in the North Atlantic

After my time in the United Kingdom, I had one last stop before heading home: a quick detour north to Iceland. I spent a week enjoying the long hours of sunlight and the incredible scenery of the most geologically active place on earth. And a week was certainly not long enough.

When listing out the countries that I planned to visit on this trip, I often got asked the question, "Why Iceland?" Dirty beaches are not typically associated with the remote coastal areas of the far North Atlantic. Initially my answer to this question was that I planned to visit Iceland out of pure curiosity. Although I hadn't heard of much concern on the topic of marine debris in the country, I was aware of the surprising amount of trash that washes ashore on some of the Arctic Islands such as Svalbard, Norway. While flights to such far out islands were reaching well out of my price range, I opted to check out the trash situation in Iceland- an island located within the North Atlantic current system that could be reached without breaking my budget.

To my surprise, I was bombarded with opportunities to join cleanups and volunteer work camps once I arrived in the country. A young, energetic group called Worldwide Friends is very active in beach cleanups all throughout Iceland. They take volunteers from around to globe for extended-stay work camps where they visit some of the most pristine, remote sites in the country to clean the beaches. How I didn't come across this group in my endless online searching is still a puzzle to me, but I was very luck to have happened upon them as I did. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to join all of their projects, so I chose the most feasible and interesting one and booked a trip to the West Fjords for the following morning.

I met with a small group of international volunteers- mostly Europeans and one lovable Canadian- who were busy cleaning the beaches of the West Fjords. We stayed in an abandoned school house in Nupur- a small town on the coast of a jetting fjord with a declared population of 2. The plumbing in the school worked and there was no need for electricity with so many hours of sunlight, so we staked out spots with our sleeping bags on the gymnasium floor and set out during the days to walk the coast lines. Covering between 8 and 12 kilometers per day, we filled quite a few trash bags.

We found a high amount of wood, which I usually choose to overlook as it has little to no impact and can be bulky and too heavy to remove. It took me a few kilometers, however, to realize that all of this wood washing up was actually quite peculiar considering that Iceland has very few trees. Turns out, by the way the currents flow, most of the wood we were finding was likely from Siberia and has been used to heat the homes dotting the tree-less valleys of the West Fjords for years. Amongst the lengthy list of unfavorable impacts that I'd developed over the months, I finally came across an item washing to shore that had benefits and was in fact valued by the locals.

The Geyser area

Beach cleaning in the West Fjords

Isafjordur in the West Fjords

The group trying to remove a large canvas bag- remnants of the supplies dropped by air by U.S. forces during the 70's and 80's

Nupur

A Lion for a Week

After the compulsory visit to Stonehenge, I headed to Porthcawl, Wales- A lovely holiday town just west of Cardiff on the Bristol Channel with a lot of history and plenty of beaches to clean. I was greeted at the bus stop by the smiling faces of David and Janet- the gracious couple who'd offered their home to me during my stay. David is the president of the Porthcawl Lions Club, a very proactive organization that holds an annual beach cleanup in the area. It began as an event to honor the merchant seamen lost during the shipwreck of a steamship off the coast of Porthcawl in the 1940's. Now in it's 3rd year running, the cleanup has been a total success. Joined by a handful of community members and a few other local organizations, we collected over 40 bags of trash within just a few kilometers. As much of the trash is brought to the beach from the rivers coming in from the valleys, most of the items were food wrappers and toiletry items. Although, I did find a police cone that had drifted in from an English city located on the other side of the channel.

I had scheduled a few free days in Wales before and after the cleanup, as my hosts were eager to show me around. Having grown up in the area, they knew more than any tour guide and took me on long drives into the valleys, tours of Cardiff and through more castles than I can count. All the while they recounted fascinating tidbits of Welsh history as well as their own personal stories. It was certainly an unmatchable experience.

On my last night in Porthcawl, the Lions Club surprised me with a reception as a thank you for coming out to help with their beach cleanups. It was a lovely evening of drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and serenades from a local choir. The club presented me with an engraved plaque made of Welsh slate as well as loads of Porthcawl Lions paraphernalia. I was even presented with a town plaque from the mayor herself. This unexpected evening was topped off with an invite for a coastal tour on the town's lifeboat- a highly regarded boat that is part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's fleet. Geared up in a dry suit and helmet, I boarded the boat for this rare opportunity. Due to the high tidal changes in the Bristol Channel, the boat is launched atop a fully waterproofed tractor specifically designed for such a task. The entire process was incredible to watch and I felt quite lucky to be apart of it.

The Porthcawl Lions Club, as well as the community as a whole could not have been more gracious to me and I certainly look forward to returning for a visit in the future. Until then, I've been assigned the task to contact my local Lions Club!

My 15 minutes of fame in the local newspaper

God Save the Seas

I have received some of the warmest welcomes since arriving in the UK and have met some really remarkable people in the process. As the academic and public concern for marine debris seems to be quite high here, I have been met with a lot of genuine interest in my project. So, needless to say, my time in the UK has been quite fulfilling!

One of the many highlights of my British experience was spent on the Dorset Coast of Southern England. For several nights I camped on the rolling hills of an organic farm before hiking the Dorset Coast Path along the rocky ridge lines and white cliff edges of the Jurassic Coast to Lulworth Cove. This is where the spectacular "Durdle Door" is located- a natural limestone arch protruding into the waters of the English Channel. Despite it's status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area suffers the impacts of marine debris. So as the rest of the visitors sunbathed and BBQ'ed, I spent the day cleaning the beach.

A bit farther west along the English Channel is Plymouth- the town best known to Americans as the port of embarkation for the Mayflower in 1620. I spent some time at the University of Plymouth where marine ecologist and biologist, Richard Thompson, is at the forefront of research in what he calls "microplastics," a microscopic form of marine debris likely formed from the breakdown of items such as plastic bags and bottles. By the use of an incredibly powerful mass spectrometer, he is able to positively identify some of the microscopic particles as various types of synthetic, man made polymers. His team is currently trying to assess the environmental impacts of this type of debris. I spoke with one of his graduate students, who is looking into the prevalence of microplastics in the tissues of mussels. I was able to join him while he sampled at a really remote site called Whitsand Bay. And, of course, killing two birds with one stone, I cleaned the beach while I was there, too.

I also spend a good deal of my time in Wales which deserves to be touched upon when I have a bit more time. So stay posted...

Next stop: Reykjavik, Iceland

Cows along the coastal path in Dorset

Durdle Door on the Jurassic Coast and the beach I cleaned

A visit to Witsand Bay with a graduate student from the University of Plymouth

Cleaning on a cold, rainy day along the English Channel

A visit to Stonehenge with the lovely Australian family that invited me along on their holiday

Talkin' Trash in South Africa

Phew! It's been a busy couple of weeks. Since my last post, I spent about a week longer in the Maldives and then made my way to South Africa. Before leaving the Maldives, I visited a few more islands (including Thilafushi- an island reclaimed completely by rubbish and used as the country's dump) and fit in a few more beach clean ups.

Catching a lift with one of the country's soccer teams, I took a dhoni (the traditional Maldivian boat) to an inhabited island in the North Male' Atoll called Huraa. The ride was nearly 2 hours but the on-board entertainment made it go by quickly. I watched, and then was insisted on joining, as the entire team played a game described to me as a "singing competition." On the top deck, lit only by the moonlight, I attempted to join as the guys danced and sang Dhivehi songs, although the only lyrics I recognized the whole night were during two guys' short rendition of "Who Let the Dogs Out." On Huraa, I was graciously accommodated in the island's tuna factory, and even invited to join the factory workers at meal times. Situated between two resort islands, and having been heavily impacted by the 2004 Tsunami, the island's beaches were in need of a cleaning. Although I was not able to remove some of the debris, such as a washing machine and large plates of lumber, I cleaned several beaches and noticed most of the trash was likely from the nearby resorts. It is widely known that nearly all of the resorts in the Maldives dump their trash into the ocean. Although there are obviously laws against this, enforcement is nearly impossible and inhabited islands such as Huraa are seeing the devastating effects of this. My most interesting item found during these clean ups was probably the torso of a large plastic mannequin.

One of the local dive shops in Male' hosts a month-long underwater cleanup on the Male' reef each year, where dozens of divers throughout the country come to participate. It is a huge community event where even non-divers come out to help take care of the 6 to 8 tons of rubbish that usually gets pulled up. Unfortunately I was just a month too early to join the cleanup, but was still able to visit the site to get a look at the trash. And boy, was there trash. Embedded in the coral I spotted bed sheets, street signs, a DVD player, bottles, a tricycle, banners from the latest election still attached to metal poles, fishing line, metal baskets... I found enough dishes and cutlery to fill the kitchen cupboards of my apartment this fall.

I've now been in South Africa for nearly 2 weeks. My father decided to make the trip out to visit me and of course, I've put him to work cleaning beaches. On an 8-day coastal roadtrip from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and back, we managed a nice balance of work and play. Puttering along in a VW Chico, we stopped periodically to visit marine research centers and scope out the debris situation on the capes.

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Our first stop was Hausten Bay, where we joined Vic Hamilton-Attwell, a retired professor of zoology, on his weekly beach cleanup. Every Wednesday for the past 3 and a half years, he has spent several hours picking up debris on a 500 meter stretch of beach along the rocky, kelp-filled shores of the Western Cape. Over beers and pizza following the cleanup, we discussed his take on marine debris in South Africa. His theory, which I found to be quite consistent between everyone I interviewed, was that most of the debris can be traced back to the hundreds of squid fishing boats along the Western and Eastern Capes.

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Another stop off was in Cape St. Francis, where I spoke with the manager of the Penguin Rescue Center. Sitting along side a pool filled with dozens of squawking penguins, she told me sorrowing stories of sea birds, penguins, dolphins, and turtles found entangled in rubbish or sick from ingestion of plastic. She estimated that one in ten of the penguins she sees are sick from plastic ingestion, which she refers to as a "death sentence."

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On a lighter note, my dad and I spent some time touring the beautiful areas of the Garden Route. We fit in some hiking, a Great White Shark cage dive, a skydive (my dad opted out of those last two) and a day at Addo National park where we found ourselves in the center of a herd of nearly 20 African elephants.

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I have one last meeting in the Cape Town Harbor to join the Marine and Coastal Management as they attend to entagled seals in the harbor before it's time to catch a plane to London.

Next stop: The Jurassic Coast of Southern England

Sailing along the coast of Cape Town in Table Bay

Hiking with Dad up to the lighthouse at Cape Point

A seal suffering from debris entanglement- a common problem in the harbor of Cape Town

Penguins at the Rehabilitation Center in Cape St. Francis

Scuba diving in the Maldives

Trouble in Paradise

While most people associate the Maldives with pristine beaches and world-class dive sites, very few visitors take the time to step out of their resorts and see the other, less idyllic side of the country. In fact, it's even discouraged by everyone from the government to the resorts to mix visitors with locals. With the guidance of several Maldivian gentlemen, I've had the chance to experience the rich, authentic culture of Male' while learning about the numerous social, political and environmental issues the country faces.

I've been staying on the capital island of Male', a two square kilometer concrete jungle home to over 100,000 people. Crowded doesn't even begin to describe it. Vastly different than any city I've visited before, its relative isolation has allowed it to retain a pure, fascinating culture. The population is 100 percent Mulsim, which has been an interesting experience for me, especially being the only westerner in town. Although curious, no one seems too bothered by my presence.

I entered a tea shop for lunch the other day and quickly noticed I was the only female in the small room. A young man happily took my order and seated me at one of the few remaining seats of a long cafeteria-style table. Joined by several dozen Maldivian men, I ate platefulls of kuli boakiba, gulha and papya. Aside from the stares and lots of friendly smiles, life went on as normal in the Dawn Cafe. I found out later that women don't traditionally enter tea shops, as it is a place for men to talk about "man stuff." (Although one woman told me she chooses not to go out of the sheer lack of sanitation- a certainly plausible excuse.) My obvious inablilty to understand Divehi must have posed little threat to their confidential conversations.

Of course I am here as, what my mom likes to refer to as, a "trash ambassador." So in order to seek out rubbish, I took a ferry to a nearby island and scoped out the marine debris situation. And on Vilingili island in the North Male' Altoll, I found the most impacted beaches I've seen so far. From couches to Q-tips, and toothbrushes to toilet seats, I entered a whole new realm of beach cleaning. Here's just a portion of the list of items I collected on 55 meters of beach:

-1 fluorescent light bulb
-11 glass bottles (including 2 empty bottles of Tobasco sauce)
-23 diapers (Maldivians will not throw human feces into a garbage dump, so instead, diapers are traditionally thrown into the sea.)
-25 shoes
-1 twin-sized mattress
-21 cardboard containers of Milo drink
-1 mother board of a computer
-2 glass jars of Nutella
-1 foam cushion
-36 plastic wrappers from instant noodles
-1 wine cork

Although, far more interesting than the items I collected, was the reaction I received by passerbys. As I dragged the ever-growing trash bags along the beach, small crowds began to form. My foreign appearance added to such odd behavior was certainly a sight for curious locals. Seemingly too nervous to approach, they stared from a distance, some even held their children so as to prevent them from wandering my way. Smiling at the crowds, I continued cleaning. Typically, after I've finished cleaning a stretch of beach, I will lay all the trash back out and sort it in order to record what's been collected. So not only did this crazy white woman spend hours picking up trash on an arbitrary beach, but now she's dumping it all back out and sitting down to admire it. As you'd expect, this really seemed to puzzle people.

Finally, a young guy, Makif, who I'd met earlier in the day, approached me and my piles of trash. He laughed as he told me that the whole town wanted to know what I was doing. Even the police had been called. Once he'd approached, the apprehensive crowds became a bit more confident and came to get the story. I attempted to explain myself, although with the language barrier it was tough. The locals laughed as they relayed the explanations they'd developed for my actions: some assumed I was an immigrant worker the government was paying to clean the town, some thought I'd lost something, one woman even bluntly admitted, "we just thought you were crazy." A few volunteers helped lug the trash to the local dump and I set on my way back to Male'. Even if I am remembered as the crazy trash lady, I hope that I was able to leave behind some sort of message that might make them think before tossing their rubbish to the sea.

A message to users to keep the beach clean on the island of Hulhualme

Kids on Vilingili infront of the beach I cleaned

Colorful Male'

If only Barbie could talk

This past week I traveled north into Aboriginal territory in Arnhem Land with an international group of volunteers from Conservation Volunteers Australia. We spent 5 days picking up marine debris along the lovely coasts of the Cobourg Peninsula. Not only was it nice to have a few extra hands to help in cleanups, but I had a great group of really enthusiastic people to spend the week with.

We set up camp along the western-facing coast of Wiligi- a peaceful area where the bush meets the sea and home to loads of Australian wildlife, incredible sunsets, and some of the most stunning starry skies. Walking about 12 kilometers of beach per day, we came accross nets, rubbish, and truck-loads of buoys. The most interesting find of the week was probably a Barbie doll. She appeared to have been through quite a lot- years as a castaway at sea, over-exposure to the bleaching sun and maybe even a bush fire or two. If only Barbie could talk.

Not only was the group proactive, but also quite inventive. Getting creative with the trash we found each day, we established the "Beach Olympics." The events ranged from tree climbing with the hundreds of meters of ropes we collected to a version of the 'truck pull' using a large amassing of buoys and ropes. And afterwards, we relaxed in homemade hammocks made from the derelict fishing nets we pulled in. Not a bad reuse of rubbish.

I also got the chance to go inland for a change. With a friend visiting from Melbourne, we spent a weekend rockclimbing and hiking at Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks near Darwin.

Next stop: A quick stay in Singapore and then a couple weeks in the Maldives

The CVA group sorting rubbish

Identifying nets with Tim from Perth

My average day

Covering new territory with the Circumnavigators Club