A Day in the Life of a Living Seas Volunteer

Each day is different for a Living Seas volunteer at Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre.

You could start your day on the harbour wall watching bottlenose dolphins only to be

taking part in educational activities, raising public awareness in the afternoon - all topped

off with a beach clean in the sunshine!

Manning the Visitor Centre

(9am-11pm)

Our visitor centre is open from 9am-5pm

daily and is a typical part of a volunteer’s day.

Volunteers provide a friendly and

informative visitor experience by sharing

their knowledge of the local wildlife and

recent sightings of Cardigan Bay’s ‘big three’.

This inspires our visitors to value the sea.

Some visitors might book onto a boat trip – a

process that volunteers organise, along with

answering phone enquiries. Volunteers also

help too sell merchandise from the shop

which contributes towards supporting the

centre’s work.

Data Entry and Updating Sightings (11am-12pm)

All the data collected by volunteers has to be input into our databases and sightings are

added to our GIS map. Once data is inputted it can be analysed and used for various

research projects . Updating the websites sightings section and posting sightings updates

on social media is an integral part of communicating with supporters and encouraging

them to support CBMWC and contribute towards marine conservation.

Land Based Survey (1pm-3pm)

CBMWC works with Ceredigion County Council with

our volunteers conducting daily surveys (7am-7pm)

from New Quay Harbour Wall. These surveys are a

particularly exciting part of our day – being faced with

the possibility of spotting bottlenose dolphins, harbour

porpoise, Atlantic grey seals and plenty of marine

birds. Working outdoors isn’t always glamorous, but

braving the wind and rain for an hour only to

experience the sight of a mother and her calf surfacing,

a group leaping and feeding, or an inquisitive seal

bottling in the water always reminds you of your

passion for wildlife! Volunteers help to record

environmental data, the species sighted, number and

behaviour of any marine megafauna spotted.

Day 2

Boat Based Survey (11am-1pm)

When the sea conditions are suitable, volunteers have

the opportunity to act as on board researcher on a

Dolphin Survey Boat Trip helping to spot the Cardigan

Bay big three and in the summer some more exotic

visitors such as sunfish. Volunteers record vital

environmental and species information and can also

interact with passengers answering their questions

and telling them more about the centre and the work

that we do. Sightings aren’t guaranteed as they are

wild animals but it’s never a boring trip with the

experienced skippers entertaining the passengers!

Community Engagement

(2pm-4pm)

Bottlenose dolphins around the UK can grow up to four

meters long, Atlantic grey seals can dive to depths of 300

metres! These facts can be use to fascinate members of

the public and informative talks, interactive activities

crafts and games can also be part of your day here at the

wildlife centre. Community engagements activities are a

way for CBMWC volunteers to pass on their knowledge

and act as ambassadors for the marine environment.

CBMWC run a range of events including a monthly

Wildlife Watch group and summer holiday activities for

family's as well as offering talks for local schools and

groups. These events are particularly worthwhile when

children show a passion for marine wildlife, they may

even go on to study conservation later in life!

Beach Clean (4pm-5pm)

Cigarettes, fishing nets and plastic are all items that have

been found during our beach cleans! These give us an

opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of

picking up your litter and it’s surprising when you go out

on a busy day how many members of the public offer to

give you a helping hand! Some friendly competition

between volunteers to find the most litter always results

in large numbers of surprising objects being discovered .

Author

A big thank you to Sarah Torode a previous Living Seas Volunteer from

April to July 2015 for her insight into the world of CBMWC volunteers.