Meet Carlota

Let's talk about the Ocean Mission Iceland Organisation

INTRODUCE YOURSELF... WHAT IS YOUR JOB ?

My name is Carlota, I am a marine biologist and I am from Spain. I work in Ocean Missions since May 2022 and I am coordinating the beach cleanup network in the Northeast of Iceland. Ocean Missions is an Icelandic NGO based in Húsavík. It was created in 2019

WHICH MESSAGE DO YOU WANT TO SPREAD ON @OCEANMISSIONSICELAND?

We want to make a change towards sustainabilty and marine conservation, inspiring people through science, education and sailing expeditions. We believe that everyone can contribute to the oceans protection with our daily actions.

WHAT ARE THE HOPE SPOTS ABOUT ?

Hope Spots are ecologically unique areas of the ocean that need protection because of their critical biodiversity values. Hope Spots are recognised by the NGO Mission Blue led by the legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle.

The ultimate goal of Mission Blue is to help communities to emphasize important marine areas from a biodiversity point of view in order to achieve at least the protection of 30% of the oceans by 2023.

Our commitment with the ocean and in particular with the area we are based in, has led us to achieve the first Hope Spot area in the country.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THESE SPOTS AROUND ICELAND ?

We chose Eyjafjordur, Skjalfandi Bay and Grimsey because of their strategic location at the edge of the Arctic and its stunning beauty and wide biodiversity. The Hope Spot includes four islands (Hrisey, Flatey, Lundey and Grimsey) surrounded by highly productive waters. This area is a whale and dolphin feeding ground where 20 species have been recorded, such as blue whales or white-beaked dolphins. We can also find some of the largest and strongest bird colonies in Europe, from the Atlantic puffin to the Arctic tern.

HOW MANY ARE YOU TO MANAGE THIS MISSION ?

At the moment we are a team of 4 scientist and one volunteer conducting the education program together with our microplastic and macroplastic research in the area.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF HOPE EXPEDITION ?

We have two citizen science sailing expeditions every year onboard the sailboat Opal where people can join our team to explore the coastline of Iceland. In this special Hope Expedition the program is slightly different as we were four days sailing the waters of the Hope Spot area, and three days onshore in Húsavík doing several activities such as beach cleanups, workshops or scientific talks.

DOES EVERYONE CAN JOIN THE HOPE EXPEDITION ?

Yes, everyone is welcome to join the expeditions. We ask for a money contribution of 1900 euro to help running the NGO.

SHARE A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR ORGANISATION...

We have an exhibition room opened in Húsavík just by the harbour where we carry out the microplastic analysis and where we also welcome anyone to come and have a look at the room to learn about our mission and the research we have been doing since 2019.

Two-three times per week we have beach cleanups in the afternoon where volunteers join us to clean the coast. Once in the beach we follow the OSPAR protocol for marine litter collection and take a sample of 100m. The litter collected is then weighted and categorised following OSPAR guidelines.

Once a week we carry out a "Whales, Sails and Science" tour thanks to our collaboration with the whale watching company North Sailing. In that tour we use the manta trawl to investigate how much microplastic pollution exists on the sea surface.

By joining this tour, tourist are contributing to key data collection while they can have a look at the sample using the microscope we take onboard.