MY INVOLVEMENT WITH EYESEA

Cath Robertshaw, COO, EYESEA

As a former teacher, I have always enjoyed new challenges. Being involved in Eyesea, where we aim to vastly improve the current state of the oceans, allows me to make a real tangible difference. It is a challenge I could not pass by.

I had left Asia to return ‘home’ to the Isle of Man, a small island surrounded by beaches and the Irish Sea. I had hiked around our island, following the ‘Raad Ny Foillan’ , which translates from Manx into ‘The Flight of the Seagull’ and saw first hand, the importance of the UNESCO heritage biosphere status the Island has and the fragile balance between man and nature.

My time in Singapore and my links into the maritime community led me to Eyesea’s Founder, Graeme Somerville-Ryan. Working with Graeme for his company, Escorial Consulting, led to chats about our current homes, the state of the world and what good the shipping industry could do. He and Oliver Schwarz from Chart World, a leading maritime mapping tech company, got talking and realized they had an opportunity to make a real difference in our understanding of pollution and hence EYESEA was born.

I was brought onboard and had a fair few ideas, a ton of enthusiasm and got stuck in with such gusto that I was soon offered the role of COO.

I was delighted as I so passionately believe in the concept of the Eyesea App, which allows the user to take photographic data of pollution, hazards at sea and on land anywhere in the world. We then integrate the data collected into maritime charts, maps and will support ocean, harbour, coastal clean-ups and scientific research. Eyesea’s goal is to use this crowdsourced environmental and navigational hazard data to work with communities on behavioural change and clean-up actions.

The Isle of Man proves you can maintain that important balance with respect and constancy and also by taking action through key groups like Beach Buddies and Plastic Busters.

To be a driving part of Eyesea has given me such a rewarding role at a time in my life where I needed to do something beneficial and felt the need to make a positive impact on the world. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in late 2018 at 46 years old and began the year 2019, fighting and beating Breast Cancer. Facing a serious diagnosis and being uncertain initially about how things would go, bringing the really important things in my life into exceptionally sharp focus - my family and 3 boys, my health and what sort of world I was ‘leaving behind’ for my boys … what had I done and accomplished? Eyesea became that chance to show it is never too late to follow dreams, work hard, formulate an action plan and throw yourself into something that you are passionate about. Working within Eyesea, I have a real chance to pave the way to vastly improve the state of our vital seas, oceans, beaches and to show other people from all over the world how they too can make valuable contributions by gathering data, taking photos and using the App. All of us can choose to make a difference and be a role model by caring about our world and taking steps to improve the state of our planet.

Photo Credit: She of the Sea