Ocean Drifters on Scotland’s Islands

I met Linn from Ocean Drifters in 2021 while researching my first book, ‘Stand Up Paddleboarding in Great Britain – Beautiful Places to Paddleboard in England, Scotland and Wales’ and have loved watching her journey. I asked her to tell me more!

Hello Linn, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your SUP journey to date?
I’m a SUP and snorkel guide based on the west coast of Scotland and a freelance expedition host for adventure companies. I also volunteer for several ocean charities, including Seaful, like you do too Jo.

My SUP journey started in 2017, when I organised paddleboarding as a microadventure for my friends and instantly fell in love with it! I have since spent lots of time on my local coastline and islands, combining touring with beach cleans. From there, I got my qualifications and started supporting SUP tours.

You have a fantastic new project called Ocean Drifters. Can you tell us more about the project?
The Ocean Drifters Project is a woman-focused initiative that combines the low-impact adventure of coastal paddleboarding along Scotland’s islands with hands-on citizen science to make ocean conservation more accessible to the community. Our aim is for women to develop curiosity about and connect deeply with the ocean, while contributing valuable data to marine research and conservation campaigns from the Marine Conservation Society to the Plankton Project UK.

How did you come up with the idea?
To be honest, it has taken a while for the idea to take shape! In 2022, I took on The Five Island Challenge, solo paddling to five islands on the west coast of Scotland to raise funds for Surfers Against Sewage, which involved cleaning beaches by day and sleeping under the stars by night.

It was then that my relationship with my local coastline and the ocean deepened, and the seed was planted to bring others along with me to care about it too. I spent a while volunteering for conservation projects first and noticed that locally there were land-based and vessel-based activities. Still, there was a gap in accessible citizen science activities in inshore waters.

and for rewilding site monitoring before, so it’s not a completely new concept. Still, we are combining and trialling some new approaches such as plankton sampling with a net on the back of the paddleboard, which is working well. It was also important for me to create a safe, intimate space for women to support each other as they build skills in STEM and the outdoors.

Earlier this year, I joined the Ocean Advocate Academy and Ocean Conservation Trust to workshop the idea and help scope the project, which really helped bring it into reality!

How have your first few months been?
There has been much more interest than I anticipated, which has been amazing to see!

After a successful pilot with two local female-led SUP companies on the safety aspect, and positive feedback from participants, the project received funding from the Outdoor Partnership Ayrshire and Ayrshire Climate Hub to deliver regular sessions this season.

Each tour lasts about four hours, and we recruit 6-8 women from the Ayrshire community to undertake plankton sampling, underwater observation and filming, marine feature ID, seaweed surveys, and hydro recordings. The weather in Scotland is always a challenge, but we’ve already had some fantastic days out!

What are your hopes or the future?
I plan to build a community of paddlers who take these skills away and keep contributing to citizen science while on the water. The project is also exploring working with young people and potentially with other communities. We are working on some exciting new developments and collaborations for next year, including multi-day island expeditions for women-only adventure organisations.

How does it make you feel knowing you have created Ocean Drifters?
It feels really fulfilling to have found a way to align my love for SUP with my passion for ocean conservation, and to bring others along on the journey. It’s been really special to see this vision come to life and to see others relating to it too! As you always say, Jo, you’re not too old, and it’s not too late to follow your dreams!

To find out more go to
Instagram @ocean.drifters or www.oceandriftersproject.co.uk