Wild Team Course: Project Managing for Wildlife Conservation

 I was very grateful to be invited to join the online course by Wild Team on conservation project management. The course was free due to a donation from an anonymous donner. 

We are 1 week into the 6 weeks course which is run all online. It's great to be in a room with so many different people from all over the world working on amazing conservation projects. Looking forward to learning some tips, skills and networking with other conservationist. 

Macro Marine

 Over lockdown I have found so much joy in providing husbandry for my cold water reef tank, recording the inhabitants and making videos. 

MACRO MARINE

I have got to a stage where I am happy to share my creations to YouTube. Not there's much audience for the content but I enjoy making it none the less. 

MEGA POST: W LOBSTER HATCHERY

It's been a wide and unusual few months since my last post. The world has changed, I have changed and my career has changed. Thankfully I would say myself and my career have changed in a far more positive way than the changes we have seen in the world.

My biggest update and my main focus of the past year has been my position as director at the WLH. The project aims to underpin the lobster stocks around Whitby making the fishing industry more sustainable. To do this we will release 100,000 juvenile lobster per year. We are also planning to have a strong educational and research focus offering a visitors centre and research space. 

I have been working to get the project off the ground for one year already. It is just myself and Terry who is funding the project. There are a few volunteers that help out with events but I am carrying the project forward and making decisions to ensure we are successful. 

To date we have successfully ran a crowdfunder raising over £20,000. We have been successful in gaining the support of the local community, fishing community and local leaders. A survey we ran in March 2021 scored over 90% in "would you like to see a lobster hatchery and discovery centre built?".

Working with an architect, building services engineers, structural engineers, quantitative surveyors, councils and stakeholders we have developed a rejuvenation plan for the fish market building. The team has worked towards creating a space which will offer a new research hub while uplifting the tired looking building on a very busy street in Whitby. 

It's difficult to summaries the amount of work this project has taken to get the stage it is at currently. I have learnt a huge amount over the last year and I hope to continue working tireless towards making the projects dream become reality. I feel like I am thriving under the pressure and relishing the opportunity to direct such a positive and impactful project. More updates to come soon :) 

Ran Seafood: suistainable lobster fishing

After a somewhat tough lockdown and trying out a couple of jobs for the council I have been happy to team up with a friend in Whitby and join his lobster fishing coble.

In Norse mythology ‘Ran’ is the Mother of the oceans, storms, and protector of all that lives within.

Built in 2002 ‘Ran’ is a study fishing coble. Cobles are the traditional style boat to Yorkshire coastline and has a small diesel engine and a hydraulic winch. Two men and one simple boat.

I'm learning alot about the lifestyle and work habits of fishing. It is hard graft, flexible pay and non-stable hours however the teamwork that Damo and I share and the time spent at sea make it all worth while.

We are commited to suistainability and ensuring we go above and beyound the suistainable rules set by local authorities.

British Antarctic Survey Marine Assisstant: Application and INTERVIEW

Well it's my dream job and one I have worked towards for many years. I finally had a shot at working in the Antarctic, spending 18 months positioned at Rothera research station. 

I had been granted an interview after spending many hours deliberating over the application form. I was prepping like crazy, my office wall covered in blue tac backed pieces of paper covering topics like "what are my strengths", "what are the key values BAS work towards" and others. 

The interview drew closer and the tension grew. I had alot riding on this job and with over 300 people applying for one job was luck enough to be offer one of the six interviews. It would turn out to be unfortionate for me that I was up against my good friend Ryan whom I had spent 3 years studying and even 1 year living with in Plymouth.

For me the interview felt like it went really well. I was stumped a little but some of the diving questions as I wasn't prepared to answer questions relating to full face masks or how to survey ice underwater but generally I was happy with how it went. 

Then came the wait... we waited... and waited... two weeks later I recieved the interview expressing my unfortionate failure to succure the job. I was truly disappointed but also relieved to hear my friend Ryan was successful. As we have such similar experiences and education I can't help but feel I was very close. Ryan has had two previous interviews with BAS so this time persistance paid off and I wish him all the best down in the wintery cauldren.

Speaker at the Local Conference of Youth (Manchester Nov 2019)

In the time before covid when life seemed to be normal I spoke at an event in Manchester. 

My talk was titled "The anthropacene Climate Change and Ecology"


A very attentive audience listened to my view on ecology, ecosystems and the impact of current and future climate change


https://lcoyuk.wixsite.com/lcoy

Enforcement, boardings and boats

Spent the morning conducting boardings South of Whitby. Boarding small fishing vessels using our RIB and working with crew onbaord NEGIII. 

Sun was shining. My colleuge got a great panoramic pic of the cliffs and got an pic of NEGIII from an angle I don't oftens she her by. 

1000 Sea Hours!

In my current role I have just achieved 1000 hours and over 100 days at sea.

A mix between vessel hours on the patrol boat (NEGIII), our boarding RIB (Bravo 1) and onboard industry scalloping boats.

During these how's I've left some extremely valuable skills and experience for my collegues and time spent on industry boats.

Some other stats and figures -

I have measured and sexed 

European Lobsters
Edible Crabs
Velvet Swimming Crabs
identifying and measuring many bycatch species

Additionally, I measured and aged -

King scallops

My Cold Water Reef Tank 💕

Since moving to Whitby I inheritted an old modest sized fish tank from a friend. I have always wanted a small tank I could house some local species and this was the ideal opportunity. 

I've had the tank for over a year now and have had many occupants! It gives me so much joy to look after the critters in there and I find it really beautiful to have in my home. Recently I collect some beadlet anemones which they spawned in the tank producing many tiny anemones. 

I've had crabs and lobsters both shed their shells in the tank and can see the growth in size between the shells. Really interesting for a marine bio geek!

Collecting new beadlet anemones for my tank. Ensuring to not damange the animal and return any rocks to orignal positions.

Lobby McLobster Face

Fishing vessel 'Our Sharon' caught a 1 in 100 million albino lobster off the coast of Scarborough this month. Recognising it's rarity he saved it from the dinner plate and handed it over to us at N-E-I-F-C-A. 

Steve organised for the lobster to be on display at the National Trust old lifeboat station in Robins Hood's Bay where they have a small display tank. The subsequently ran a lobster naming competition on facebook. 

To go with the display I produced a poster to provide information on the lobster and it's unusual shell colouration. 

Scallop Video Work Analysis

Now the data collection has been complete the analysis of data and report writing must be done.

Working in a team the other environment officers and I have begun to conduct statistically analysis and compile a report. 

With vast amounts of data there are many options to look at such as abundances, species richness and biodiversity indexes. 

I suggested looking at the height differences in Dead Man's Fingers (DMF) as I observed from the video analysis that they height in DMFs varied massively between areas with little or no scallop dredging and areas with high levels of scallop dredging. 

Using ImageJ software I measured the heights of over 1000 DMF selected from random specimins over the video footage from 2019. The data was analysed using an ANOVA which showed significant difference between areas of varying dredging activity. 

Basking Shark Encounter

On the 26th September around 1 mile of the coast of Runswick bay we had a amazing encounter with a basking shark!

I've never seen one before and I never would of thought we would encounter one off the N. Yorkshire coast. The first mate spotted it first and shouted out. I didn't believe it but jumped out my seat and ran out to the back deck to take a look. 

There it was by the side of our vessel, around 4 m long a feeding basking shark! What an amazing thing to see it feeding and relaxed alongside our boat. We floated there and watched it slowly swimming through the water. 

The encounter was uploaded to the Shark Trust Basking Shark Project. To help keep track and monitor the populations of these threatened yet beautiful animals we are luckly to encounter around the UK coastline.

https://www.sharktrust.org/basking-shark-project

Ceatacean Watch UK

This summer we have seen an array of different ceatacean in relatively high abundances. We've seen bottlenose dolpins, harbour porpoises and minke whales. 

One particular encounter was around 10 miles of the coast of Whitby where we were surrounded by 10-12 feeding minke whales. As Skipper tracked the bait ball on the fish finder, I was flying the drone to attempt to capture the feeding behaviour of these majestic creatures. 

Unfortionatley, it proved to be too difficult this time around to capture any great footage but the experience was exhilerating. Next time I will get the footage I wanted after some futher practice. 

I uploaded all sightings of ceatacean to Sea Watch Foundation UK, a citizen science project aimed to "improve the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the seas around Britain and Ireland."

https://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/recentsightings/

Minke Whales Galore ⬻

A routine patrol this morning turn in a whalefest. 

Heading North from Whitby about 6nm off the coast of Port Mulgrave we found ourselves between approximately 20 feeding minke whales, diving birds and the odd seal. A mark on the fish finder indicated a school of herring confirming our suspicions of a feeding frenzy! 

I quickly set the drone up and get her into the skies. Making two flights managed to acheive a 10 minutes flight time for each flight. 

However, to my utter disappointment despite being often on top of the feeding whales not once was a whale in shot out of the roughly 15minutes of footage. As a whale would appear at the surface before feeding you have around 5 seconds to capture it. The drone was in the right area but just missed being in shot. 

It was exhilerating trying to follow the whales with the drone but really difficult to mange the drone flight, camera control and whale spotting all together. More practice needed! next time I'll get them. 

UKYCC System Change Switch

Recently with UKYCC we have shifted our focus from the gas industry to the all encompassing topic of Systemic Change.

Our plan of action is too firstly formulate a UKYCC statement on system change: detailing why we need system change, problems with the old systems and what a system of the future could look like. Then we will engaged youth groups all over the country and create a manifesto expressing tangible demands we are a collective youth want from the governemt. This was be published at the COP next year in Glasgow. 

Recently, Mark and I organised a UKYCC team weekend in London. We have food, bonding sessions and workshops on 'whitness', media and many other interesting topics. Around 25 people attending and the feedback for the weekend was excellent! 

https://www.ukycc.com/gas

Quarterly Update IIII

Final quarter of my original contract has come to an end, the work goes on :)

Scallop Video Survey Work

To analyse the impact of scallop activity within our district we have conducted video surveys using our towed camera systems. All the video collected needed to be processed and analysed. 

I was tasked with firstly, editing the video footage into manageable chunks before recording the abundance of main species observed.

I completed this for both 2019 and 2016 video samples giving a total of 173 videos or many hours of footage. In total I counted abundance for 20 different species and a high abundance of individuals. 

Here's some example footage collected showing the main differences between heavily, partially and un-dredged areas.

Potting Surveys Restart

The scallop season has now ended which means the potting survey season begins. We have been busy readying the fleets of pots. 

They will be strategical placed giving a accurate representation of the district while allowing us to compare results from last year.  

So far we have conducted some great days of potting collecting biomemtric data on  edible crabs, lobsters and velvet crabs while collecting bye-catch data on everything brought up in the pots. 

Rib Work

Alongside days spent on-board NEG III I have assisted the enforcement team on conducting patrols and boardings of the fishing fleet. It's a great opportunity to meet some of the fishermen and get a understanding of their day to day life. Mostly, the fishermen are compliant and friendly although sometimes you they feel we are intruding on their day and sometimes obviously have something to hide.

In a pair, once making aboard the fishing vessel, one officer will begin the paper work while the other checks the entire catch of lobsters and crabs. Any problems are raised with the skipper and then escalated depending on the circumstance.

I enjoy the practical side of this work. Jumping onboard fishing boats and inspecting there catch. It's great to meet some of the fishermen too and chat about there days at sea, their catch or football! In my opinion localise fisheries management really benefits from postitive interactions with the fishermen who's industry we are in place to protect. 

Video Editing

For the upcoming boat open day in Whitby I was asked to use my video editing skills to put together a selection of videos to display behind our desk at the Whitby Fish and Ships festival.

Everyone seemed pleased with the result, it gives a good indication of our roles and displays some of the amazing wildlife we get in our oceans. Please see the video below. 

Baited Camera Work

We have been conducting static baited camera work to analyse the biodiversity present at various locations.

We have also been trying to identify the abundance of squids within our district. We have noticed a lot of squid mops (eggs) on our pots while conducting surveys so would like to investigate further. I suggested we recorded the presence/absence of squid mops as an addition entry during out potting surveys. This efficient and low time consuming method will give us an indication of abundnaces, distribution and times of year spawning while creating a baseline dataset which can be exploited in future studies. 

By using light we have been able to record a high abundance of squid in certain areas of our district. This increases the potential for opening a squid fishery in our district creating a more diverse fishing fleet.

Contract Extension

I am pleased to say the Chief has offered me and extension to my contract which I gladly accepted. I now hold a full time position on-board NEGIII and with N-E-I-F-C-A.

I feels great to know the hard work I am putting in is being recognised and appreciated. 

Quarterly Update III

Another three months passes onboard. Time and tide really do parry no man. The job is still really varied, pratical and challenging. I'm learning alot and enjoying being part of the crew aboard NEG.


Drone Training

To improve our enforcement and survey technology and abilities N-E-I-F-C-A has invested into a drone to carry out offshore duties. The Splashdrone 3+ is a waterproof drone equipped with a 4k camera system and the ability to land and take off in water.

Nick and Dan from Swell pro UK came for a day of drone training exercises in February. We conducted onshore and offshore exercises and took our RIB alongside NEG III to simulate some real life scenarios.

Northern Ireland Visitors

To improve cross working and to learn from each other we had a visit from two members of the North Irish Fisheries Committee. Joe and John came out on NEGIII for a day to see the boat and how we run as an authority. 

We had to the drone up to display it's capabilities and they observed how we log our enforcement work. 

Next month Chief and Skipper will visit their boat to see how they operate. 


Drone Operation & Video Receiver Fitting

Since purchasing the drone we have spent many days practicing and improving the knowledge of use both on and offshore. Although the drone has yet to be deployed in any enforcement use we have collected some great footage of NEGIII and the Yorkshire Coast. 

To improve the abilities of the drone the Skipper had suggested it would be useful to see the live footage the drone transmits. As the drone transmits a 5.8 Ghz video stream it should of possible to receive the feed via an antenna which can plug into the vessels monitor matrix system and therefore can be viewed from all available screens.

I conducted some research and purchased two types of antenna and a video receiver unit. The two antennas, one which has a further range but is uni-directional and one with an inferior range but it omni-directional. As the video receiver will use the feed which has the strongest signal, we can boost our range while maintaining the flexibility of use.

Splicing Master Class / Preparing Potting Fleets

In  May we will start our potting surveys again to assess the populations of crabs and lobsters within our district.

This year we will use 10 fleets of 15 pots. Two more than last year to increase of coverage of survey. All the fleets need to be organised and roped up before the survey work can be undertaken.

This entails; cleaning all the pots (done), attaching a leg to the tow rope and splicing fixings for the anchor. Enter Dylan Silverwood's Splicing Master Class. Dylan is the first mate on the boat and with over 30 years of commercial fishing experience it is safe to say he knows all there is when splicing a rope and organising fleets of pots. 

I had learnt to splice a few years ago during my commercial diving course but without practice had quickly lost the skill. 

Dylan gave me some great tips and refreshed my knowledge. Dylan and I prepared the fleets splicing on the legs for the pots and sorting the tow rope. All fleets now ready for some survey work... bring it on!

Scallop Dredge Survey

Within our district there are two defined boxes where three fishing boats have special permits to dredge for scallops between the months of October and May. Despite the small number of boats the massively destructive fishing method of dredging means a close monitoring systems of the fishing stock is conducted each year.

Not only do we conduct research on-board industry boats by collecting biometeric data of their catch, but we also perform our own scallop dredge surveys on-board NEGIII. 

Over 10,000 scallops were surveyed off the industry boats and 35 scallop dredges conducted from our vessel. This should give us an adequate representation of the district and allow us to make informed management decisions. 

The bycatch in the dredges although small brought up some interesting characters such as sun stars, monkfish and a beautiful cuckoo ray (see pics). 

Scallop Ground Video Survey

To truth the dregde surveys and to increase our understanding of the scallop stocks in our district we conducted various video surveys within and outside the scallop boxes. 

Despite testing the equipment multiple times before the survey day. As I was setting the camera sled up the camera firstly, didn't have power and secondly, wasn't displaying any video footage. Quick state of panic and confusion ensues. 

Quickly I grabbed a new power cable and tested the camera connections. The new power cable sorted the first issue. Somehow one of the solders to the connector had become disconnected since we tested it two days before. A quick solder while heading to the test site sorted this and once the lights, lasers and go pros were fitted we were ready to film. all in a days work.. phew!

Quarterly Update II

I'm half way through my year long contract however, hopefully not half way through my time employed on-board NEGIII at N-E-I-F-C-A. 

"life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you'll get next"

One thing I really enjoy with this job is the amount of variety. Each day offers a new challenge, a new skill to learn or an activity to complete. Usually working in small teams to discuss, collaborate and deliver on the given task allows lots of opportunity to develop communicate, teamwork and problem solving skills.

Unfortunately, during the past three months the windy weather hasn't allow us to be at sea as much as we like despite this we have been more than busy and completed 8 sea patrols (one at night). Read below to see the task I have been undertaking during the past three months. 


Rewiring, Soldering the GPS & Text Overlay System

When conducting camera survey work via a drop down sled camera we display the GPS information on top of the video via text overlay unit. The system was outdated and awkward so Pete and I set about redesigning and rewiring the system. This involved soldering of phono cables, video connectors and power sockets. Now the system is conveniently stored out of the way on the wall and simply requires plugging into the camera and laptop. 

Patrols and Night Patrol

Every time the sea is fair fishing boats are out at sea collecting there catch. We are out at sea too patrolling our district. We are there to ensure each boat is fishing within the correct areas, has the correct fishing gear and has the correct escape gaps on their pots. 

In November the scallop season opened in our district. Three boats have permits to dredge for scallops with two defined boxes within the six mile limit. The season runs from Nov - Mar. Due to the short season and high rewards for scallops boat with often fishing for 3-5 days straight. Fishing over night throughout the three days. Other scallop boats which don't have a permit to fish within the six mile limit will fish for scallops outside the limit. However, in the past unpermitted boats have used the cover of darkness to fish within our district. This caused for a night patrol to ensure the rules in our district are being respected. We set off at 16:00 and returned at 07:00 the following morning. Taking shifts to have a 4 hour energizer throughout the night. 

Deck Plates Out RIB in

During the winter months the potting survey work is temporarily halted until the summer. This allows us to change the back deck by removing the deck plates providing space for our boarding RIB to be carried by NEG III. Here some footage of Protector 3 (our RIB) being launched off the back deck. 

With this we can board more fishing vessels further off the coast.

With a little push, she is in.

Other Initiatives

Over the last couple of months I have become more confident in my role and the impact I can have at the I-F-C-A. I also feel more appreciated and respect as my colleagues have got to know me and how I work. Therefore, I have been able to introduce so of my own ideas and initiatives. I have started small and pushed some of my environmental agendas. Such as, introducing a recycling bin onboard the vessel and hosting a "veggie tuesday" lunch for the crew. 

I feel challenged in this job because everyday offers something new. One thing I've learnt is "communication is key". Currently at N-E-I-F-C-A, there is a structural review. Fingers crossed a full time position will come up as a offshore Enviro Offier. Let's see what the next few months will bring. 

Quarterly Update

So I have been in my role as a scientific and environmental officer for N-E-I-F-C-A for three months and with a learning curve like a rocket to the moon I thought now would be a good time to update with what I've been doing.

Research Vessel (NEG):

As a crew member and onboard scientist, I have been spending the vast majority of good weather days at sea on NEG. This meant learning the ropes, literally and quickly!

Ropes and mooring- The 24m beauty that is our IFCA's patrol and research vessel requires careful and organised mooring and casting off procedures. Docked past the bridge in Whitby harbour requires me and the rest of crew team to communicate with the skipper via radio and to ensure all roles at complete (fenders, mooring lines, shore power and others).

Navigation- Due to a relatively small and interchangeable crew roles are often shared and swapped. Often I find myself in the navigation chair next to the skipper. Acting as his eyes I monitor the radar and Transas navigation system.  

Maintenance- There are the two onboard engineers. I often assist them in routine and more pressing fixing and maintenance in the engine room or other areas of the ship. Each month we also perform safety checks ensuring fire alarms, batteries, bilge pumps, and other safety equipment is fully functioning. Every day is a school day onboard NEG. 

 







Crab and Lobster Potting:

To monitor the health of the lobster and crab stocks in our district we conduct our own lobster and crab potting surveys. This entails deploying, baiting and retrieving our own fleets of pots. Each time we retrieve the pots we count, sex and measure all the red edible crab, European lobster and velvet swimming crabs. Other bycatch is also recorded. All animals are returned to the ocean when they have been measured and recorded. Any berried lobsters bearing eggs are V-notched preventing them from being landed by fishermen. 

The potting days are tiring and often long but I found it really interesting to see what comes up in the pots and enjoying being out at sea with the team. Also, the data collected is vital for us to understand what is happening within our district and can tell us information on a variety of population dynamics. 

Environmental Data gathering:

Each month we collect environmental data at different locations along our district. This involves deploying a SWiFT SVP probe which takes various water quality measurements as you let it free fall through the water column. 

Temperature, salinity, sound velocity, and pressure are all recorded and the location of the probe in logged with GPS before connecting to the computer via Bluetooth. 

Camera Work:

These past few months I have also been in charge of preparing and deploying some framed baited camera systems to capture footage from the seabed. In collaberations with a PhD student from Northumberland university, we have deployed the cameras at 6 locations and captured 2 hours of footage each time. 

It really helped to have some prior experience with underwater video and maintainence of cameras and we were able to collect some great footage of lobster, crabs and even dogfish coming to the bait. 

What a great first three months. I really feel I have been able to contribute to tasks at hand and feel although I am still learning the ropes and have lots more to learn I have been trusted with responsibility which I am really grateful for. I have made new friends, drunk tea and even had cake!

New Job: Science and Environmental Officer

I am extremely pleased to say I have a new position as a Science and Environmental Officer .

I started the position 6 weeks ago and am base off sure on the authorities vessel (NEG III). So far we have conducted environmental surveys, team building and construction of a  new onshore observation lab.

I'm excited about upcoming projects and the upcoming year with the team at north east fisheries authority. Keep posted for more details.

(North Eastern Gaurdian III- NEG)

ne-ifca.gov.uk

Ecoceànica: Turtle Autopsy

We recieved another call about a sick turtle two days ago. We visited her on the beach, some tourists had placed an umbrella over her and were pouring sea water over frequently. Rosanna seemed to think it has inhaled too much air and could no longer sink. Sometime I had no idea was possible and still now writing this I'm think maybe my translation wasn't perfect.
Anyway we placed the turtle in some more permanent shade and promised to come back the following morning to administer medicine and check it's progress.

Unfortunately when we returned the turtle had died during the night. Very sad for the turtle and tourists involved. However, this gave us the opportunity to perform an autopsy. The aim was to primarily determine the cause of death and then check for other bits of interest (i.e plastic in the stomach, other signs of illness). We performed the autopsy right on the beach under the somewhat horrified eyes of tourist however some were fascinated and Rosana quickly too the opportunity to teach onlookers on the biology of a turtle.


First task was the cut through the thick plastron on the underside of the turtle. Luckily a line round the edge can be used as a guide and after 5 minutes the whole plastron section was removed. This revealed a mass of muscle tissue attached each fin. There was a surprising amount of muscle especially on the front two flippers. Rossana cut the muclse out and threw it in a purposely dug hole along with the plastron. Under the muscle was a thin layer of membrane which seperates the muscle from the organs. Down the hole with the membrane unveiling a neatly arranged section of organs.


One by one they were removed and any relavant infortion recorded. The colours of some of the organs were very vivid greens or purples. The eusophgus was very interesting, turned inside out a tube of long spikes could be observed. Apparently turtles don't chew their food like a human would so it passed to the digestive system by rows of spikes with push the food down.


The blood inside the turtle was heavily coagulated and their was also so visible brushing on the plastron leaded us to believe that yet another turtle had falling foul of a boat in the harbour. After swimming with its injury the turtle gave up and retired to the beach where it then died. The turtle was a juville female, sad to see it go but a great opportunity to learn some hands on biology.