Shanley & Eric are Earth Changers.

They met through a love and respect for the ocean and sailing, both having grown up on California’s coast, and went on to work on, skipper and manage our ocean expeditions partner organisation. Here's their story:

Places

Shanley: I met my husband Eric first in 2011, both of us having a love and respect for the ocean and sailing.

Eric was embarking on a non-stop solo sailing circumnavigation around the globe - a unique experience. He was utterly inspired by fantastic writers who were sailors who had done similar past trips, such was his sailing passion. During his youth in California, he sailed dinghies, raced, taught sailing to children and as a member of the Sea Scouts, gained experience sailing and repairing cruising sailboats, locally and on several ocean crossings. He earned the Sea Scout Quartermaster Award, became a PADI Divemaster, developed his teaching skills running summer programs and skippering.

Our common purpose brought us together, and towards Sea Dragon, leading expeditions and now running the business. We’ve worked on the boat since 2012, when we did the North Pacific Gyre trip then the next five years in the North Atlantic and the gyre there. We took over managing the behind-the-scenes operations in 2018 (bookings, website etc), then fully running the organisation and all voyages in 2019. Now we have expedition leaders on the boat too.

Because you look down, and you’re in the deepest, bluest blue, and you take a surface trawl, and it’s full of plastic - it’s mind boggling, all those smaller bits you can’t see in the water with your eyes.

My first sail through the North Pacific Gyre in 2012 was shocking, even having heard about it. But seeing it - the level of debris and trash, anything from fishing gear, a boat to a shoe or even a light bulb or refrigerator! - is shocking when you’re in the middle of nowhere, not near any land! But what’s more shocking too is the micro-plastics.

We’ve done hundreds of trawls now and it never becomes less shocking. We’ve done plankton trawls with students, and seen the microplastic from plankton poop. To know that is happening on that ‘bottom’ level, that’s pretty horrible. I’ve had my blood tested too - and was horrified by seeing all the toxins in my bloodstream, not having knowingly consumed, or be able to do anything about it. And aware, as a woman, if you have a child, you pass that all on.

People

My involvement in this company dates back to when I graduated from University. I received my bachelor’s in Environmental Policy and Marine Science. A lot of my projects and research was focused on marine plastics and plastic pollution, long before it was so recognised globally as an issue. I’d been involved for some time with the Surfrider Foundation, dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's ocean, waves and beaches, to protect California’s coastlines. Through them and yearning for a way to incorporate and further explore my studies led me, and a city hall meeting in Oregon on the banning of plastic. There I met someone from 5 Gyres who was talking about their experience being out on Sea Dragon in the middle of the gyre. I'll never forget it - and didn’t.

A couple of years later the chance arrived for sailing on Sea Dragon, a wonderful opportunity and experience. At the time it was not in a professional capacity but I joined on for a delivery from Hawa'ii to Majuro [capital city, the Marshall Islands] - helping the boat be prepared for its next trip with 5 Gyres from Majuro to Tokyo, right after a tsunami in Japan. I was set with qualifications and a sailing background: this was my opportunity to match my university studies with my passion for the ocean and practical sailing skills. How exciting to be actually putting it all to use together! But it means the way I’ve lived includes a lot of sacrifice, spending most of the year on a boat. It’s very difficult to separate and take time for yourself. You’re living where you work with the demands and commitment it brings, even at anchor taking care of the boat is a full-time job, and you’re missing the birthdays, gatherings, family and friends… but also having an amazing experience meeting liked-minded people.

Purpose

We aim to have those that participate gain a greater understanding into the costs humans have pushed onto the planet, the ocean, and marine ecosystems.

The power of just being on the water means you can connect with the ocean in a different way… once you connect you feel more passionate about it and you’re more willing to make changes.

This profound tie to the ocean, Eric and I both feel even when we are away from it. During our lockdown period due to Covid, life on land was manageable but still sometimes feels a little bit suffocating, and like “where's the water?" Water embodies life and we want everyone to feel that connection, tie and passion towards the sea.

Covid also brought more PPE [personal protective equipment eg. masks] waste to the beaches. And of course we had the challenges of navigating a company like this during the pandemic. We had a chance to do maintenance with only one trip in 2020, and had to work on putting into place new strict health and safety protocols, including dealing with different countries’ rules and regulations, and a steep fall in people booking trips for a long time.

Waiting for places to re-open though was just a matter of "fingers crossed" - that’s challenging with a sailing operation, if you can’t schedule routes, trip itinerary to trip itinerary!

So on the one hand the pandemic made running trips tricky with things constantly shifting, but on the other definitely raises interest in people wanting to experience our world in this way. ‘If not now, when? I want to see the things I want to see’. Life is short. Everyone on the boat is super excited to be away and in the boat bubble! And, with people having felt more vulnerable during the pandemic, the impact on consciousness may be all the greater.

How you can be an Earth Changer:

Take an Ocean Expedition: “Il faut aller voir” - “We must go and see for ourselves” ~ Jacques Cousteau, Oceanographer, Under Sea Explorer.

Regular people join a crew at sea to observe, document, learn and communicate about marine exploration and conservation.

All sailing trips stem from an ethos of conservation and education. While not all legs collect data, the lifestyle aboard and way of tourism is never separate from marine conservation.