Two crews are currently navigating the exposed Atlantic waters off the Scottish coast as part of one of the world’s most demanding endurance challenges, a non-stop and unsupported row around the entire 2,000-mile coastline of Great Britain while gathering scientific data on the health of Britain’s coastal seas.

The teams, Rowmads and Nautilus, set off from London’s Tower Bridge on 14 June and are now tackling the Scottish leg of the GB Row Challenge, a section of the route widely regarded as its most gruelling, with powerful tides, rapidly shifting weather, and some of the most exposed ocean conditions anywhere around the British Isles.

Fewer than 30 people in history have completed the challenge continuously and unsupported.

As they row, the crews are collecting water samples and environmental data across five areas of scientific concern: microplastic pollution, biodiversity, underwater noise, sea surface temperature and salinity. The data will be analysed by scientists at the University of Portsmouth before being shared through The Crown Estate’s Marine Data Exchange, contributing to one of the UK’s most detailed long-term records of changing conditions in coastal waters.

Rowmads is made up of three military doctors alongside a firefighter and a fitness coach, while Nautilus brings together people with backgrounds in healthcare, sustainability, education and environmental management. Its skipper, Aoife Luscombe, is back on the water after her 2024 attempt ended prematurely on the Cornish coast. 

“It’s such a privilege to see the Great British coastline from an entirely new perspective,” she said. “The challenge itself will test us, mentally and physically, but knowing that we are collecting vital data and samples on ocean health will make every stroke, storm and sunrise that much more rewarding.”

Data gathered during the 2024 GB Row Challenge found that microplastic pollution in waters around Great Britain was significantly higher than previously recorded, with average concentrations reaching 59 microplastic particles per cubic metre of seawater – more than double the levels measured in comparable surveys in 2022 and 2023.

Professor Fay Couceiro, expert in biogeochemistry and environmental pollution at the University of Portsmouth and lead scientist for the GB Row Challenge, said the expedition represented a rare opportunity to gather environmental data across spatial and temporal scales that conventional research programmes struggle to match. 

“The data collected during this expedition will provide a valuable window into the health of Britain’s coastal waters and help us better understand the environmental pressures these ecosystems face. Scientific research often depends on observations gathered across vast areas and long periods of time, and that is where citizen science can make such a powerful contribution. I am very grateful to the two teams and their commitment to help generate information that could benefit marine research for years to come.”

GB Row Challenge founder William de Laszlo, who has completed the challenge twice himself, put the physical scale of what the crews are attempting into context. 

“Scotland is one of the most spectacular but demanding parts of the entire route. The crews are now tackling some of the most exposed waters around Great Britain while continuing to collect valuable environmental data,” he said. “This exceptional group of people is taking part in something truly remarkable. More than 7,000 people have climbed Everest, yet fewer than 30 have rowed continuously and unsupported around Great Britain.”

The 2025 challenge is jointly sponsored by Cleaner Seas Group and Simply Sustainable.

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