Pembroke alumna Dr Claire Petros and team paddleboard 100km to raise awareness on plastic pollution in the Indian Ocean

NEWS |

Pembroke alumna Dr Claire Petros (Biology, 2008) conservationist and lead veterinarian at the Olive Ridley Project (ORP) along with Dr Cal Major founder of Paddle Against Plastic and Maldivian Ocean Advocates Saazu Saeed and Dhafy Hassan Ibrahim recently completed an unprecedented 100km paddleboard across 16 islands in Baa Atoll.

The four women, raising awareness for Stand Up For Our Seas, paddled across the 16 islands over 8 days, battling the sun, unseasonal headwinds, strong currents, dehydration and exhaustion. The women stopped along the way at local islands to conduct beach clean-ups, host talks at schools and give presentations to various resorts and their guests. 

Their mission was to raise awareness of the threat of plastic pollution and climate change rapidly gripping the Maldives, while encouraging more people to work for the common cause of protecting marine life. Claire spends much of her time in the Maldives treating & rehabilitating injured turtles, and educating people on the threat of plastic pollution and discarded fishing nets.

Claire commented: 'The Stand Up for Our Seas campaign all started with the concept that we all can do something in the fight against plastic pollution, no matter how small; we can use a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one, we can say no to the straw or plastic bag, small changes in our every day lives can truly make a difference. Simply recycling is not the answer, we all need to use less, reduce the demand for single-use plastics, in order to make a difference to our environment. We should all be spending more time outside and enjoying the incredible nature, whether you’re fortunate to live by the sea, or near mountains or woods, both for our physical and mental wellbeing. We all tend to care more about what we love, so why not spend more time doing just that and in doing so go one step further and start protecting it.'

You can watch more on the team’s initiative via YouTube.

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Stand Up for Our Seas was sponsored by Coco Collection and was conducted in collaboration with Coco Collection’s CSR partner the Olive Ridley Project, a UK charity based in the Indian Ocean which rescues and rehabilitates turtles entangled by discarded fishing nets. Ocean Ambassadors proudly supported their expedition.