Cetacean Research & Volunteering.

My Volunteering Experience Abroad

In April 2019, I was lucky enough to take part in a cetacean conservation and research programme with the Atlantic Whale and Dolphin foundation (AWdF) based in Tenerife with the Bangor Zoological Society. During my stay the AWdF research centre was used as our base and from there we were able to travel to the harbours of Las Galletas and Puerto Colon to carry out key research.

Image: Bangor Zoological Society at the AWdF.

As volunteers we spent most days aboard tourist whale watching boats as research guides; observing and recording the behaviour of wild residential cetacean populations, Short-finned pilot whales and bottle nose dolphins (Globicephala macrorhynchus and Tursiops truncatus), and taking photos of the dorsal fins of those observed for fin identification against the AWdF database. We were also able to spread awareness of plastic pollution by promoting petition signing aboard the tourist boats as well as running educational activities in local schools during Earth Week.

Of course, our free time was spent exploring the local towns and taking part in some of the fun activities that Tenerife has to offer; such as Horse riding, surfing, scuba diving and hiking!

Image: Horse riding in our free time.

A Taste Of Conservation

As a first year university student exploring different elements of zoology this trip was a great opportunity to get a taste of field based conservation and data collection work. Getting the opportunity to observe wild resident species and interpret/record their behaviour allowed me to develop my field based skills whilst simultaneously contributing to and working with large, long-term data sets.

Image: Myself and another volunteer aboard the tourist whale watching boats.

It is the research of organisations such as the AWdF that are vital for the conservation of resident family groups of cetaceans; data collected over 25 years enables us to visualise changing behaviours and protect key locations for these populations such as breeding/feeding grounds and migratory corridors.

After Thoughts

A key highlight of the trip for me was being able to partake in spreading awareness of key current global issues during Earth week. Getting involved in encouraging those on holiday to sign our petition (banning the use of single use plastics by 2020) was a great way to gain experience interacting with the public about something I have a growing interest in and enabled me to share this interest with others. Furthermore, we visited local primary schools and ran interactive activities and games focused around plastic pollution and it's impact on the local species of Tenerife.

I feel like both research/data collection and spreading awareness are key to conservation and for me the balance of both of these within my 2 weeks spent in Tenerife have furthered my interest for exploring a career within conservation further. With the opportunity to travel and develop my field work skills further whilst simultaneously observing natural behaviour and working to protect wild species; I think that this volunteer opportunity was perfect for someone like myself wanting to delve into both behaviour and conservation further.

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All images used were my own.