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 Mike, read on to hear his reflections on the role!
Among all my days as a Drone Observer intern one stands out in particular.
Its 06:00 on a Saturday morning. Many people are tucked up
asleep and may be for hours yet, but not me. I’ve just woken up to head to SRUC
to meet Claire for my third shift as a Drone Observer intern. I stumble
downstairs and into the kitchen to make a much needed coffee. I am normally
lucky enough to be able to see the sea from the kitchen window – today, all I
can see is haar!
Fuelled and caffeinated I head off for SRUC. As I drive over
the AWPR I can see a long bank of haar hugging the coast to the north of
Aberdeen, but it seems to peter out – perhaps, just perhaps it is not as far
north as Newburgh or it burns off with morning sun.
I meet Claire at 07:30, we load the kit into the car and
head off to Newburgh, aiming for an 08:00 flight – right at low tide. The drive
over is a chance to have a chat and a catch up. We talk about Claire’s work,
which is both fascinating and ground breaking, what doing a PhD really entails
and our plans for the week ahead. With one eye on the haar (its not shifting)
we chat about the best light conditions for the drone to capture images of the
seals, overcast seems good, but perhaps not as overcast as it is today.
We pull into the carpark at Newburgh and it looks like the haar will deter us this morning. We load up with the gear and head to the viewpoint to check conditions, its not good for flying the drone. We can see a large number of seals hauled out on the north side of the estuary, but the haar is thick so flying is a no go. On the journey back to SRUC we agree to try again on the evening low tide when hopefully the haar has retreated.
The day is spent by the coast, that cursed haar moving in and out, never fully disappearing, but it does seem to be thinning. Sadly though when we get back to Newburgh for the evening low tide it is as thick as ever. No flight today, but the beach is a great place to be and there is plenty of wildlife to watch to make up for the lack of a drone survey!
Throughout the six weeks of my internship this was the only
time the weather prevented a survey taking place. On every other occasion we
were blessed with glorious weather. This often brought out the crowds, and the
beach could be very busy. On most flights my time was taken up chatting to
people who were really keen to learn about what we were doing. Newburgh attracts people from around the
world, which can make communication interesting. My GCSE French and German were
certainly not up to “We are operating a drone that is taking images with which
Claire is training an AI to count and determine the sex of the seals on the
beach” or “Excuse me, would you mind walking behind us just now as we are about
to land a drone and we need to maintain line of sight with it and to cannot
have anyone near the landing area for safety reasons.” But we always managed to
get by somehow and with good humour.
I have now passed on the Intern baton. It’s actually a fetching bright green tabard - a look I could never pull off! I reflect on what I gained from being an intern on this project: A better insight into the trials, difficulties and joys of research and undertaking a PhD, which is food for thought for the future. Experience in interacting with the public and chatting to them about science. In these times we cannot overestimate the importance of science communication. Some fascinating insights into seal behaviour and just how much we still don’t know about their habits. And finally, a friend whose passion and enthusiasm for their work is infectious and inspirational.
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