Rowers to brave the Arctic to shed light on plastic pollution

At an indoor pool in Dubai, three rowers battle artificial rain and simulated waves as they train for an Arctic voyage intended to highlight the perils of marine pollution.

At an indoor pool in Dubai, three rowers battle artificial rain and simulated waves as they train for an Arctic voyage intended to highlight the perils of marine pollution.

From the United Arab Emirates, notorious for its sweltering heat to one of the coldest regions in the world, their quest will take the team from one extreme to the next. For leader Toby Gregory, it is a chance to sound the alarm about the scourge of plastic waste in the world’s oceans, a mission he took on after a 2023 Atlantic Ocean rowing trip during which he saw “a lot more plastic than I ever imagined”. The UN says plastics account for 85% of all marine trash. Last year Mr. Gregory founded The Plastic Pledge, which tries to educate students about plastic disposal.

The “Arctic Challenge” will see Mr. Gregory, 46, his fellow Briton Andrew Savill, 39, and Irish Orlagh Dempsey, 30, embark on a 1,500-kilometre voyage late this month. They will set off from the city Tromso in northern Norway and head for Longyearbyen, capital of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. They plan to row for roughly three weeks aboard an eight-metre boat flying the UAE flag, and with no sail or engine.

By leaving in summer, a time of non-stop sunshine in the polar region, they can use solar panels to maximum effect to power navigation and communications equipment. Undertaken in partnership with the UN Environment Programme Clean Seas initiative, theirs is set to be a milestone mission, with the group becoming the first three-person team to row the Arctic Ocean and Ms. Dempsey the first woman to do so.