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Seal Drone Intern Experience by Kirtsy Tapp

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  The PhD Project was awarded a generous grant from Sea-Changers, a marine conservation charity, to support our drone-based seal research at the Ythan Estuary. This funding is crucial for providing the on-the-ground assistance needed to ensure safe and effective drone flights, while safeguarding the delicate wildlife of the reserve. It's all the people on the ground who make my research possible. I’m excited to introduce Kirsty, read on to hear her reflections on the role! I (Kirsty) am the sixth person to finish the drone internship with Claire at Newburgh, starting in April and finished mid-May. From previous blog posts you may be familiar with the role of drone intern - assisting Claire with the seal surveys, speaking to members of the public and being a drone spotter. With survey times being 2 hours either side of low tide and increasing daylight hours, the tide times seemed to vary, but stay in my favour; meaning no early early starts for me! The weather was still cold, ...
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AMMP reaches for the (blue)sky with new logos and socials!

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 For a while now, I've been thinking it would be great to have a logo for the Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project. And whilst I'm not short of ideas, unfortunately I am chronically lacking in artistic talent. Thankfully, this is not true of Iona MacLeod! Since finishing her Honours Project on the Aberdeen dolphins last year, Iona has completed a stint as a Drone Intern with Claire and also been working for me as a Research Assistant on a marine mammal acoustics project. Being the incredible individual that she is, Iona has also found time between her science jobs to deploy her creative skills and create some lovely logos for both AMMP and the "coming soon in 2026" Seal Snap project! The timing of these ties in perfectly with creation of our new social media accounts! Follow us at: Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project on BlueSky Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project on Instagram Seal Snap on BlueSky   Seal Snap on Instagram
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Halfway There: Milestones, Memories & Marine Mammals

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 As this week marks a full year of drone flights for the Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project, it also marks the halfway point in my data collection and, incredibly, the halfway point in my PhD journey. Time really does fly (almost as fast as the drone on a calm day over the colony)! Poster submission for 2025 SGSSS Impact competition First and foremost, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported me during the SGSSS Impact Competition . It meant so much to be shortlisted, and although I didn’t win, the experience was incredibly rewarding. I was truly touched by the kind feedback from those who voted and took the time to leave encouraging comments. Your support and enthusiasm is why I love sharing this research—it’s not just about seals and science, but about people, and the collective curiosity and passion we share. One of my favourite events to be part of Pint of Science.  One of the parts I’ve enjoyed most this year has been the chance to talk about my wo...
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Protecting the Point: Seal Research in Action

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  Since my last update, my PhD has witnessed a significant milestone — the peak of the grey seal moulting season in March. During this time, the seals haul out in large numbers to shed their old coats and grow new ones, a vital and energetically demanding process. It’s also a period where their vulnerability to environmental stressors is at its highest, making undisturbed rest critical. A packed seal beach from above Unfortunately, this year’s peak coincided with a noticeable rise in disturbance events around the reserve. A number of people, maybe unaware or misinformed, have walked around the point — an area of the reserve that is clearly marked as important for the seals and protected to minimise human impact. We know a proportion of these people will have genuinely missed the signs, but unfortunately some will have decided to just ignore them. While the Scottish Outdoor Access Code gives a right of pedestrian access across most of Scotland, it's important to remember that thes...
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Congratulations Giv! Thesis submission on dolphin foraging in Aberdeen Harbour

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Congratulations to Giverny Fitzgerald, who submitted her SRUC Honours thesis last week! Giv's thesis explored dolphin foraging activity in Aberdeen Harbour, giving us crucial insights into how animals are using this area.  Giv has been a driving member of AMMP since our first field season in the summer of 2022, rising up the ranks from volunteering on the hilltop to running monitoring shifts for her own project. It is brilliant to see her using the dolphin data now as part of her BSc (Hons) Wildlife & Conservation Management degree - and we have no doubt the final grades will reflect the excellent work she has poured into this project! Read more below in the full abstract: Environmental drivers behind bottlenose dolphin foraging activity in Aberdeen Harbour Giverny Fitzgerald The east coast of Scotland bottlenose dolphin population is recognised as being vulnerable due to its limited size and isolation. Whilst afforded protection within the boundaries of the Moray Firth Special...
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My Experience as a Drone Intern / Observer By Adam Robertson

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  The PhD Project was awarded a generous grant from Sea-Changers, a marine conservation charity, to support our drone-based seal research at the Ythan Estuary. This funding is crucial for providing the on-the-ground assistance needed to ensure safe and effective drone flights, while safeguarding the delicate wildlife of the reserve. It's all the people on the ground who make my research possible. I’m excited to introduce Adam, my latest drone observer intern. Read on to hear his reflections on the role! "The early bird gets the worm, and the sleepy student gets a Greggs’ bacon roll on their way to Newburgh Beach for a sunrise seal survey. At least, that’s what my experience as a drone intern/observer was. With low tides and good flying weather often colliding during the wee hours of the morning, I was fortunate enough to start the day watching the sun spread across the beach, listening to the whimsical wails of the fifteen thousand or so seals that sat across the estuary from ...
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"Seal Snap" - Applying citizen science to monitor urban seals

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 We are delighted to announce that the Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project has received a research grant from the British Ecological Society to launch a new initiative! The "Seal Snap" citizen-science project will monitor harbour seals at Donmouth Local Nature Reserve to help us understand how these urban seals cope with city living. What is the problem? Despite the increasing presence of nature in our towns and cities, we still have a limited understanding of how an urban context alters the ecology of a species. Compared to their rural counterparts, we know that urban foxes change their diets to include rubbish scavenging, songbirds change their tunes to be heard over cars, and many insects are drawn towards bright streetlights throughout the urban landscape. But what changes are also occurring in our urban seascapes? The UK is a coastal nation, with over 30,000km of coastline and a long history of maritime activities. But this also means that human population density along t...
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