The Red Bulletin May 2020 (UK)

Ben Lecomte
Picking up the pieces: communications manager Hannah Altschwager and deckhand Heather
Lynn Hatcher sift through and count samples of microplastic fished from the Pacific
focus his mind on what his next challenge
should be. “Twenty years ago in the
Atlantic, [plastic waste] was something
I saw very rarely,” said Lecomte at the
time. He set about planning a new sort of
expedition: The Vortex Swim.
In June 2019, Lecomte set off with
a nine-strong team – including a doctor,
cook, storytellers and scientists – aboard
the 20m yacht I Am Ocean and dived into
the Garbage Patch headfirst. This was
no longer a sporting challenge or about
beating a personal best; Lecomte wants
to raise awareness of ocean pollution and
gather data to help develop a better
understanding of the issues involved.
“Plastic in the sea isn’t a single problem,”
he says. “It’s a number of problems.”
Lecomte’s team has taken on 11 scientific
research projects, assisting a number of
institutions in their study of microplastics
and how currents shift debris. Their aim
is to inspire others to make changes such
as shunning single-use plastics and
choosing alternative materials. Though
none of us is perfect, Lecomte says, we
all have a duty to help protect our oceans.
the red bulletin: What was the most
unexpected piece of rubbish you found?
ben lecomte: There’s a photo where
I’m sitting on a toilet seat totally naked.
I posed with the detritus I found. I did it
to shock. Because people will be more
offended at seeing me naked than an
item of plastic like that being in the
ocean. My approach for the moment is to
do something a bit out-there to attract
people’s attention.
Is there a global solution to the
problem of plastic in our oceans?
The problem is certainly global, but it’s
complex, which is why we must respond
with targeted local campaigns. In the US,
for example, lobbyists have a lot of power
and put pressure on politicians, but that
isn’t so much the case in Germany, which
is why they’ve been able to pass laws and
issue decrees to limit plastic usage. We
can’t apply a miracle solution that works
for everyone, because economic models
and resources are different.
How many vortexes are there?
Five. There are two in the Pacific, two
in the Atlantic, and one in the Indian
Ocean. The North Pacific vortex is the
biggest. The important thing for us was
to have pictures to be able to convey
this atrocious reality. It’s not visible on
satellite images. You have to be on the
boat and approach slowly to see what’s
on the surface, and that’s only part of it:
the majority, which you don’t see, is in
the column of water below. That’s why
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