Hey there! I’m a new PhD student at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) in Aberdeen, and I’m super excited to share my research journey with you. This year, I will be spending a lot of time at Newburgh Seal Beach, observing the seal colony that calls this place home. It’s been an exciting start, and I can’t wait to dive into the details with you. What’s the Deal with the Seals? So, what’s so special about these seals? Well, they’re grey seals, and they hang out on the beach all year round. But here’s the interesting part: their numbers change with the seasons. My mission this year is to gather all kinds of cool ecological data about them. I’m looking into how different age groups and gender of seals use the beach and where they prefer to rest. To do this, I’m using drones to snap aerial photos of the colony. From these bird’s-eye views, we can estimate the seals’ age by their size, determine their sex by the colour of their fur, and see exactly where they like to chill. Why Bot...