In April this year I accepted a post with the British
Antarctic Survey to be their penguin and giant petrel Zoological Field
Assistant on Bird Island, South Georgia (in the sub-Antarctic region). Throughout September and October I am undergoing all
sorts of training in preparation for this role and will be flying out on the 4th
November.
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| Soon I will get to see these guys in the wild! |
As this is such an amazing job opportunity for a seabird
ecologist I have decided to write this blog to show the amazing wildlife in the
sub-Antarctic to anyone that wants to read about it. I will be in a location
with limited internet access so blogs will be irregular but I will try and
upload new ones whenever available.
Bird Island is an amazing location to be working at, and in
my first on-island blogs I will be describing the journey there and the island
itself. But for this introductory blog I thought it would be best to describe
how I got here….. very briefly!!
I have always loved animals and wanted to work closely with
them in my career. I decided the best way to do this would be to go into
conservation work as it is vital to protect the natural world for the wellbeing
of people and the planet. As such I studied for a BSc in Ecology, Economics and
the Environment at the University of York. During my third year on this course
I sat my first entirely marine based conservation module. The comparative lack
of understanding and protection afforded to marine environments over
terrestrial ones astounded me and I wanted to learn more, much more!
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| Moon jellyfish in the red sea |
Therefore, I signed on for an MSc in Marine Environmental
Management, again at York. However, having already committed to some voluntary
work in Ecuador after my BSc finished I had to have a gap year before starting
the MSc.
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| Most work in Ecuador involved cleaning cages and feeding the animals. But when a puma needs a lift after anesthetic who am I to refuse! :) |
Working in animal rescue centres in Ecuador was a great
experience but I had a lot of time before starting my studies again in York. So
my tutor recommended I contact RSPB Bempton Cliffs who had been looking for
summer volunteers monitoring their seabird colonies.
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| Cliff top views of seabirds from Bempton and nearby Flamborough are spectacular |
In just two months at Bempton I realised how much fun it can
be to work with seabirds, particularly as they are an excellent visual
indicator of the health of the otherwise unseen marine environment; this makes
them an ideal subject for research in to understanding marine environments and
increasing the awareness of conservation issues around such locations.
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| Gannet flying at Bempton |
During my MSc I developed an understanding of how
conservation efforts are done in marine environments; including doing my final dissertation on work in Madagascar!
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| May not be a marine landscape (although there is water!), but a trip to Montagne d'Ambre is a must for all wildlife enthusiasts visiting Madagascar |
Following the
MSc and another four months at Bempton, I moved to Alderney to work with the
Alderney Wildlife Trust and take on the day-to-day work involved in managing
their Ramsar Site. My work in Alderney was vital to my acceptance as a
scientist with BAS, so details of my time there will follow in the next blog.
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| Razorbill - my favourite :D |
Before then a quick note on my name – RememberTheRazorbill.
I developed a personal favourite in the razorbill during my time at Bempton
Cliffs. Puffins are always the poster child of seabird work in the UK whilst
gannets get a lot of attention due to their size and diving habits. Meanwhile
guillemots and kittiwakes group together in such numbers that they are always
well received. However, razorbills, being more spread out throughout a mixed
seabird colony, can often be overlooked and so I made sure to always point them
out to visitors to the site and they quickly became my favourite because of it.
Ever since I have made sure that razorbills get included wherever I can!
