Meet Shannon Frier… born with salt water in her blood, Shannon has spent her whole life beside the sea. Raised in St. Mawes, Cornwall, UK she had the privilege of growing up on the water. An enthusiastic sailor, Shannon currently holds the title of Helms Woman 2014 at St. Mawes Sailing Club!
With a huge passion for anything that lives in the Blue, Shannon is studying a degree in Natural and Marine Photography at Falmouth University, bringing together her love of the ocean by learning about science communication, through photography – her other obsession.
From eXXpedition Shannon plans to write her dissertation on the sociology of marine ecotoxicology, which will in turn contribute as research for her final project which will include short documentaries that we’ll use as an educational resource once Amazon is over.
In-between student’ing, working and raising sponsorship for her spot aboard Amazon, Shannon agreed to sit in the hot seat and be poked a little… all in the interest of science of course!
Q: What colour is your toothbrush?
A: Yellow
Q: If you could teleport where would you go and why?
A: The deepest depths of the ocean so that I could watch marine fauna truly in the wild undisturbed. I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful than watching marine life, from copepods to giant squid lighting up the darkness with their bioluminescence
Q: Who do you admire the most (dead or alive)?
A: Sylvia Earle
Q: What’s your top tip for reducing plastic use – what works for you?
A: Being a poor student and reusable bags. Obviously being a student every penny counts, so I find by not sticking to what I can fit in my reusable bag means that my shops are far more cost affective, and I think about how much room the excess packaging is going to take up in my bag. From doing this I find that I shop a lot healthier to!
Also from my hatred of plastic bags I find that even if I forget my plastic bag I will carry my shopping in my arms meaning I am then looking at packaging further making my shopping choices more and more conscious of single use plastics.
Q: If you could put just one thing at the top of your bucket list, what would it be?
A: Sailing the Antarctic
Q: What’s the most delightful word you can think of?
A: Serendipity
Q: What’s your biggest fear?
A: Crisps
Q: Favourite flavour ice-cream?
A: Mango
Q: Who would be your 4 ultimate dinner party guests (dead or alive)?
A: I am crazy about Arctic and Antarctic mega fauna! At my ultimate dinner party, if the guests weren’t to eat me or each other, it would have to be with a Polar Bear, Ora Whale, Narwhal and a Native Inuit on the ice sheets of the Arctic, under the northern lights.
Q: Where would you go if you were invisible?
A: Whale watching around the world
Q: If you owned your own Yacht, what would you call her?
A: Basilosaurus
Q: What have you done that you are most proud of?
A: Sailing. It is the one hobby I have stuck to all my life. I love the passion of everyone that sails and their respect for the water. I’m proud of all the work I have put into racing. But the thing I’m most proud of are the intimate moments I have had with Cetaceans from being at sea. The most memorable being watching two Humpback’s perform their mating ritual.
Q: What would your Superhero power be?
A: To be a mermaid
Q: What piece of advice have you been given that was most rewarding?
A: Fake it until you are it!
Q: What’s the most important thing you want to take away from your eXXpedition voyage?
A: The hours for my yacht masters! Don’t worry I’m joking, or at least only a little. I want to take away with me stories that will influence everyone around me, I want to share my experiences with everyone – from encouraging more girls into sailing to inspiring the weaker sailors to reach big even if they doubt themselves, and most importantly giving those that don’t have the privilege of going sailing everyday a sense of connection with the ocean with the film I will make on my voyage.
Q: What’s your favourite marine animal and why?
A: ORCAS! I have always been obsessed and they’re one of the few Whales I haven’t seen. I can get so excited over them I cry, so I dread to think what I would do on the day I finally find them.
Q: What’s the one thing that drives you crazy?
A: People that don’t reach for their dreams
Thanks Shannon, and Good Luck with your Dinner Party, sounds adventurous!
