All-female sailing crew set to circumnavigate the British Isles to raise awareness of plastic pollution

The yacht Sea Dragon, which will sail around the British Isles (eXXpedition)

A SAILING expedition is set to circumnavigate the coast of the British Isles in a bid to raise awareness of pollution in the world’s oceans.

The all-female crew of the Round Britain project will depart from Plymouth on August 7 on the 30-day trip.

They’ll be making stops in Scotland in Arran, Stornoway and Edinburgh as they sample the UK’s waters for plastic pollution and hold events to highlight the problem and the potential impacts on human health.

The journey is being organised by specialists eXXpedition, who have run similar trips around the world.

This summer sees their first foray into sampling UK waters, with the 72ft yacht Sea Dragon and its crew of scientists, students, artists, filmmakers, business women, psychologists, ocean activists and sustainability professionals, as well as experienced sailors.

Sample recovered from the ocean (eXXpedition)

eXXpedition co-founder and ocean advocate Emily Penn said: “After years of studying ocean plastics all over the globe I am so excited to be bringing this project home to the UK.”

“The more time I spend at sea, the more I realise that the solutions start on land. We may be seeing the more obvious impact of plastic and toxic pollution in the more remote parts of our planet, but what is clear is that the pollution is coming from land – the UK included.”

She added: “We need to expose these issues and raise consciousness of the work to be done to solve them here in the UK.”

The Scottish coast forms the second part of the crew’s adventure, anchoring off Arran on August 17.

After an event onshore, they’ll then head round the Mull of Kintyre, the Inner Hebrides and Small Isles before a stop at Stornoway on August 21.

Then it’s a long sail across the north coast, through the Pentland Firth and down through the North Sea to Edinburgh on August 26.

eXXpedition raised £10,000 through crowdfunding for outreach activities at the ports visited during the voyage, and are still accepting donations via Paypal.

All sailing costs are being covered by crew contributions.

For more information visit http://exxpedition.com/expeditions/round-britain