Seal Drone Intern Experience by Kirtsy Tapp

 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, so beach goers were minimal, largely dog walkers who are used to seeing the weekly drone survey by now. This made easy work for me, it allowed me to observe sea birds, watch the seals and enjoy the sea air.

beach pups

During my time at Newburgh I observed hundreds of seals on the beach, with their smell being quite distinct! Alongside the seals we had the thousands of Eider duck, whooping like there was always some juicy gossip. Towards the end of April we arrived one morning to a completely seal-less beach, when less than a week ago it was full. Claire sent the drone up and looked beyond the protected area to the north and that is where the big grey mass was located.

                                                                      A full seal beach!

What had happened is a ‘fence’ had been put up to protect the nesting terns and deter members of the public walking within the tern colony. The seals had decided that a piece of rope on some stakes was the perfect place to haul out, so relocated a mile or so down the beach. This was well outside the range for the drone, so all we could do is note any seals left behind and ask the site reserve staff to help by doing a land-based count from an closer viewpoint to provide some data for Claire.

Far Photo of the seals out of range of the drone at the tern fence away from the protection zone.

The next couple of weeks the seals moved between the fence and the estuary, giving a big variety in count numbers. I found it interesting to see the habits of the seals and their movements throughout a 6 week period, perhaps giving potential for expansion of the protection zone??

On my final week I handed over to the new drone intern, who I have no doubt will see the seals and birds of Newburgh beach in a completely different light to what I was able to see!

For those considering applying for the internship, I would highly recommend it, whether you have a strong interest in seals or not. It enables a greater understanding in the use of drones to survey wildlife, which is still quite new to the industry. I enjoyed being around someone who is so passionate and knowledgeable, so for that I thank Claire for having me. The contacts I made during the internship led me to my current job where I am being paid to walk around all day on Rousay, in Orkney, looking at birds for 2 weeks! And you never know, you might become a seal person by the end of it…

Photo credits: Kirsty Tapp in her new role on Orkney

The aerial images were taken as part of a PhD study by the Aberdeen Marine Mammal Project based at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) gathering data on the environmental factors influencing seal haul-out behaviour, Credit Claire Stainfield taken under licensed research drone usage as permitted by NatureScot.