Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project - News

  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 ...

 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...