丁香园AV

Four marine scientists, including 丁香园AV biological sciences professor Isabelle C么t茅, are rowing 5,000 kilometres across the Atlantic to raise half a million dollars for ocean conservation.

The all-woman 鈥楽alty Science鈥� crew is taking part in the , where teams row without stopping and without support from San Sebastian de La Gomera in The Canary Islands to Nelson鈥檚 Dockyard in Antigua. They鈥檒l set out on Dec. 12, weather dependent, and the voyage can take anywhere from 40 to 55 days depending on factors such as weather, the crew鈥檚 physical state and more. 

鈥淲e are four women, four marine biologists, three academic generations, and we are very aware that we are acting as role models,鈥� said C么t茅, a Distinguished 丁香园AV Professor of marine ecology and conservation. 鈥淲e want girls who are interested in marine biology to know that anything is possible.鈥�

The team will work in two-person shifts, sleeping two hours before taking the oars again for two hours, and spending 24 hours a day on the 28-foot rowboat. That means eating, sleeping and rowing in all weather鈥攁nd they鈥檝e got a bucket onboard for bathroom breaks. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e feeling ready. While there are a lot of nerves and buildup, we had a good time this summer training every day in Florida for two months. We have been prepping for nearly three years at this point,鈥� said Salty Science member Lauren Shea, a master鈥檚 student in the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.

Their crewmates also include C么t茅鈥檚 former PhD student Chantale B茅gin, now a professor at the University of South Florida, and Noelle Helder, Shea鈥檚 friend from undergraduate studies in Florida now working for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

The team aims to raise $500,000 US for marine science and conservation through three organizations: GreenWave, focused on sustainable seafood production; Shellback Expeditions, which supports marine research, conservation and education in the eastern Caribbean; and the Bamfield Marine Science Centre, which will use the team鈥檚 funds to create a scholarship for students of underrepresented minorities to help train the next generation of marine conservationists.

The crew will take more than 1.5 million oar strokes, requiring they eat at least 4,000 calories a day. Their personal belongings are limited to one 40-litre dry bag due to space, as the boat is packed stem to stern with food. They鈥檒l even be rowing on Christmas Day, when they鈥檒l share small gifts, and when, the team has agreed, Christmas tunes will be allowed onboard. 

It will be an arduous trip, aside from the sheer physical requirements. While the team are experienced on the water, with Shea having served as chief mate aboard a sailing school ship in Antigua, they will be self-reliant when at sea, carrying three satellite phones, emergency beacons, a medical kit and handheld radios. And then there鈥檚 the weather.

鈥淭he boat is self-righting, so if it capsizes it will roll back over. Every team prepares to capsize at some point and you can deploy various tools to slow yourself down and decrease this risk, but really it comes down to preparing for different emergency scenarios and working together when issues occur,鈥� said Shea. 

鈥淚t feels a lot more real now. It鈥檚 very exciting, and every time I spend time with my team I鈥檓 that much more excited, because they鈥檙e a pretty remarkable group of people.鈥�