Monitoring
From comprehensive ethograms to opportunistic cetacean sightings, I am experienced in a range of techniques.
Animal Monitoring:
Boat- and land-based surveys of wild animals utilising both digital and manual recording techniques, photography equipment and scopes (including night-vision and infrared).
Seagrass Monitoring:
Diving and land-based surveys of seagrass habitat. Versed in the following techniques:
Taxonomic Identification:
Marine megafauna including cetaceans, pinnipeds and seabirds. I am confident and competent in the identification of:
Animal Monitoring:
Boat- and land-based surveys of wild animals utilising both digital and manual recording techniques, photography equipment and scopes (including night-vision and infrared).
- Behavioural observations (ethograms) of pinnipeds, seabirds, and others.
- Photo identification (PID) of grey and harbour seals
- Seabird population counts
- Seabird growth and productivity monitoring.
Seagrass Monitoring:
Diving and land-based surveys of seagrass habitat. Versed in the following techniques:
- Seagrass Watch surveys
- Monitoring seagrass shoot density and plant composition (including leaf lengths, canopy height, epiphyte growth)
- Sediment cores for carbon sampling and benthic fauna monitoring
- Seine netting for epifauna
Taxonomic Identification:
Marine megafauna including cetaceans, pinnipeds and seabirds. I am confident and competent in the identification of:
- Cetaceans: Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), Northern bottlenose whale (Hyperodon ampullatus), Killer whale (Orcinus orca), Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas), Risso’s dolphin (Grampus griseus), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), White-beaked dolphin (Lagenorynchus albirostris), Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).
- Pinnipeds: grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), harbour (common) seal (Phoca vitulina).
- Seabirds: razorbills (Alca torda), guillemot (Uria aalge) (inc. bridled), black guillemot (Cepphus grylle), little auk (Alle alle), puffin (Fratercula arctica), manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), fulmar (Fulmaris glacialis) (chick → adult), gannet (Morus bassanus) (chick → juvenile → 2nd/3rd year → 4th year → adult), imperial shag (Leucocarbo atriceps), common shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), great skua (Stercorarius skua), kittwake (Rissa tridactyla), little gull (Larus minutus), black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus), herring gull (Larus argentatus), greater black-backed gull (Larus marinus), lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), common tern (Sterna hirundo), arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), little tern (Sterna albifrons), black tern (Chlidonias niger).