WE ARE ON A BLUE MISSION

Set Sails, For Sustainability

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Important announcement

Dear friends, in the light of the challenges presented by COVID-19, we have decided to postpone our expedition offering two dates to join.
28th of May to the 3rd of Jun 2020 from Reykjavik to Húsavík.
28th of September to 3rd of October 2020 from Húsavik to Reykjavik.
These dates are designed to help protect both our visitors and staff, minimizing potential exposure to the virus.
This expedition will sail with a clear goal to improve our knowledge from the oceans around Iceland monitoring whales, birds and microplastics.
We appreciate your understanding and we encourage you to get in touch if you have any questions.

info@oceanmissions.org

UPDATES ON COVID- 19 IN ICELAND: Double Screening And 4-5 Day Quarantine For All Arrivals!

As for August 14, 2020 From August 19th, all travellers arriving in Iceland will be required to under go two COVID-19 screenings and quarantine for 4-5 days in between tests, the health ministry announced today. Arrivals will be tested once at the border and a second time several days later. Until they have received the results of the second testing 4-5 days later, they will be required to quarantine. The changes will be implemented no later than August 19th. Previously several countries had been exempt from border screenings, this is no longer the case. The only passengers who are exempt from the new rules are those born in 2005 or later. Until now the double screening requirement only applied to returning Icelandic citizens and residents and visitors staying longer than 10 days.

More info at covid.is

About Us

When Ocean is Your Life

We are a small team of enthusiastic people with different ideas and professional backgrounds coming together to make a difference, helping our marine environment by conducting an exciting long term conservation project.

Expedition April 2019

The Legendary Opal Standing for the Voices of the Seas at the Edge of the Arctic

This year we are inviting experts from different fields; plastic science, whale and bird scientists to collect data about Icelandic ocean health and develop together a field course for students next year 2020.

Know more
Belén García Ovide
Marine Biologist & Wildlife Guide Founder of Ocean Missions. Ocean passionate and energetic since she can remember.
Daniel Gonzalez de la Peña
Nature Photographer & MSc Marine Ecosystems-based Management Daniel has grown up surrounded and loving nature.
Heimir Harðarson
Captain of Schooner Opal Co- founder of Ocean Missions. An explorer by heart and sailor by soul.
Testimonials

Experts Said About Us

The Arctic regions are particularly vulnerable, and much of the marine life that forms here is the basic prey for marine life across the globe. This is why I’m very excited to join the expedition with Ocean Missions in Iceland.

I joined the Ocean Missions expedition knowing it was a great opportunity to spend a week sailing with people with different backgrounds and skills, but one common goal: making a difference for the oceans and spreading the world.

I join this your to work with other people who are passionate about the Ocean and to get inspired. Bringing people together working for a project like this have a  great potential and I want to support it. It is important to raise awareness and built bridges between science and public engagement. Sailing Opal has been amazing. I am very happy to be an Ocean Missions ambassador.

This experience, the sailing, the science, the landscape, the people… was absolutely beautiful. This project is as critical as inspiring and it needs to get off the ground. I wont soon forget my days under an on deck pulling ropes and analyzing micro plastics from the shimmering blue Icelandic waters. It’s a dream to watch the icy white caps clapping up into frozen, snowcapped mountains.

If we are willing to live with other beings, then we need to also listen to our fellow humans and make cross-overs between different fields of expertise. This is was I was eager to come. I believe that Ocean Missions is beautiful initiative with a perfect platform for developing  projects and relationships (human to human and human to non human…). I am forever grateful to be part of Opal crew and the ongoing conversation with the Ocean.

Vision

After years of experience in science and tourism business we learnt that inspiration, team building and to bring people to discover the wonders of the sea while understanding the problems is a powerful approach for working together for healthy oceans.

Actions

With our seasonal expeditions in Arctic and Subarctic regions we monitor plastic pollution, whale and sea bird ecology and use the data for scientific and educational purposes.

Solutions

Everyone can be part of the solution. We believe on a bottom-up strategy, developing solutions from the individual level up to the collective. Connecting and engaging people, we work closely with decision makers, schools, the public and the scientific community to protect and respect the oceans.

"More Solutions"

OCEANS ARE HOME TO 80% OF ALL LIFE ON EARTH AND IT'S IN BIG TROUBLE

8 million metric tons
of the plastic is dumped into our oceans every year — which is equivalent to a full garbage truck of plastic being dumped into the oceans every minute
5.25 trillion piece
plastics that occupy every ocean on the planet Nearly 93% of them are smaller than a grain of rice
640.000 tons
of fishing gear enters our oceans every year harming endangered marine life and fragile ecosystems (FAO)
60.000
cargo vessels are on the seas at any given time. Shipping noise is the largest source of anthropogenic noise which interfere with marine life communication

The power of the nature

Ocean Missions is a project sponsored by North Sailing

Do you want to join us in our next expedition?

Yes, i want!
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