Lessons for a Career in Conservation
Cate Waggoner, an MSc Marine Conservation student at the University of Plymouth, spent five days aboard the university's sailing yacht Take the Helm, surveying marine mammals and seabirds along the south coast of England. The expedition, made possible through the support of an IMarEST Student Bursary, gave her the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in marine mammal research and explore the field-based career she hopes to pursue.
In July, I joined PhD student Beth Harvey and a small team of students aboard the University of Plymouth's sailing yacht Take the Helm for five days of marine mammal and seabird surveys along the Cornish coast.
The survey forms part of a larger dataset collected by Dr Simon Ingram and Dr Clare Embling, combining visual observations with passive acoustic monitoring to document marine mammals and seabirds in a region recently designated an Important Marine Mammal Area. The area is also an important hotspot for cetacean bycatch, making continued monitoring particularly valuable.
Alongside contributing to this ongoing research, the survey gave me the chance to develop skills in marine mammal observation, acoustic monitoring, and even sailing a yacht, all skills I hope to carry forward into my career in marine conservation.
The expedition was a good introduction to the unpredictability of surveying at sea. Some days were full of activity – common dolphins leaping a few metres in front of the bow, white-beaked dolphins breaching and rolling onto their backs, and hundreds of seabirds behind fishing vessels. Other days involved long stretches of scanning an empty horizon, with intense winds and waves making surveying difficult.
One of the most rewarding aspects of the experience was seeing my species identification skills develop. At the beginning of the survey, I was grouping most gulls into the category of “seagull”. By the end of the five days, I felt much more confident distinguishing between different seabird species, to the point that even now, I find myself automatically identifying every seabird I see, thinking “juvenile great black-backed gull, 200–300 metres out, bearing 260 degrees.” Once you start, you really can’t stop.
The same was true of marine mammal identification. Spending several days observing animals in the field gave me a much greater appreciation of how much can be inferred from relatively brief encounters, particularly when identifying species from limited views or at a distance. The acoustic side of the survey was new to me, and I was interested to see how the hydrophone recordings complemented the visual surveys and to begin exploring how acoustic patterns could be linked to the behaviours we were observing at the surface. This introduction to acoustic monitoring has encouraged me to pursue further training in acoustic surveying and analysis, alongside working towards my marine mammal observer certification.
There was, of course, plenty to learn that had nothing to do with identifying species. I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to sail: helping to raise the sails at sunrise, tacking and gybing as we worked our way along our zig-zag survey transect, and taking the helm when I wasn’t observing. Captain Tony even let me have a go at docking the 13.5 metre yacht, which was an experience I will never forget.
The survey gave me a better sense of the kind of work I could see myself pursuing. As I approach the end of my MSc and start looking for work, I have been thinking more seriously about field-based marine mammal research. It is a competitive area to enter, and with limited experience in this type of work, I had started to question whether it was a realistic career path to pursue straight away. Having now had the chance to work in this environment, I feel more confident that it is something I want to pursue and more motivated to gain the qualifications and practical skills to do so.
This is why I am so grateful to be part of the IMarEST community. Opportunities such as the Student Bursary make it possible for early-career professionals to gain practical experience that can otherwise be difficult to access, while helping them better understand the different career paths available within the marine sector. For me, the bursary provided the opportunity to contribute to ongoing research, develop new skills and gain an insight into what marine mammal fieldwork is really like.
I am very grateful to IMarEST for making the opportunity possible, and to Dr Simon Ingram and Dr Clare Embling for welcoming me aboard Take the Helm and giving me the chance to contribute to their research – and, of course, for helping me get my sea legs.
