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clock-iconPUBLISHEDJanuary 26, 2026
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IFLScience We Have Questions: How Can Swimming For 37 Hours Help Tackle Ocean Plastic?

This test of endurance aimed to raise awareness of one of the greatest plights currently threatening marine species.

Rachael Funnell headshot

Rachael Funnell

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.

Senior Science Writer

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.View full profile

Rachael has a degree in Zoology from the University of Southampton, and specializes in animal behavior, evolution, palaeontology, and the environment.

View full profile
Episode 17 of We Have Questions playing on a smartphone

Episode 17 of We Have Questions.

Image credit: Shane Bartie/Ljupco Smokovski/Shutterstock.com; modified by IFLScience

In 2022, a new world record was set in the waters off Grand Cayman in the western Caribbean Sea. I, a once avid collector of the Guinness World Records annual album, was most excited by the prospect, but ask environmentalist Oly Rush about it, and he’d sooner talk to you about plastic. 

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You see, this wasn’t just any swim. This was a 36-hour-and-59-minute test of endurance to raise awareness of one of the greatest plights currently threatening marine species. The Grand Swim, as it would become known in a subsequent documentary about the grueling achievement, details what led Rush and Project Planet Earth to embark on such a perilous adventure. We, however, needed more deets on what wildlife you faceplant along the way. 

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to the podcast on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, Amazon Music, and more. 

This interview first appeared in Issue 37 of our digital magazineCURIOUS.


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