Cetacean Survey Training Courses

Cetacean Survey Training Courses in New Quay, West Wales

Join a short course to learn all about British cetaceans, how to survey for them, and contribute to their conservation!

DATE FOR THE 2010 TRAINING COURSES IS SET!

Two-days weekend course, 17-18th July 2010


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The course will consist of illustrated lectures and video presentations as well as headland watches and boat surveys aboard a local research vessel. The area where land and boat trips will be undertaken is the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a place well-known for the presence and high sighting frequency of bottlenose dolphins (the largest population in the UK), harbour porpoises and grey seals. These populations are protected in the SAC following the 1992 EU Species and Habitat Directive.

The Sea Watch Foundation is the most experienced organisation in the UK for training observers and students interested in marine mammals, having run courses for over ten years. It has provided training for staff from all three national statutory conservation agencies, the Environment Agency, CEFAS, Department of the Environment, Wildlife Trusts, Royal Navy, and MMOs working with the oil and gas industries. Most of the field guides on cetaceans on the market in UK have actually been written or had consultations from the Sea Watch Foundation. Thus we hope we can guarantee a very high level training course given by highly experienced staff.


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The lectures and videos will focus on general biology and classification of cetaceans, species identification, conservation issues facing UK cetaceans, and recommended monitoring survey methods. The course will be based at New Quay, Ceredigion, West Wales, where our Welsh office is based, and will provide an unparalleled opportunity to see marine mammals in the wild and to contribute to cetacean conservation in Britain.

The practical element of the course will combine both land and boat-based surveys allowing participants to directly learn how to conduct systematic watches and fill in standardised recording forms.


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Land and Boat-based work will teach participants the skills needed for:

  • identifying the various cetaceans species found in the area
  • estimating group size and distinguishing between calves, juveniles and adults
  • determining cetacean behaviours
  • assessing sea state and other key environmental features
  • learning some basic photographic techniques aimed at identifying single individuals

Preliminary programme of the course

Day 1

Indoor Session 1:


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  • 09:00 – 09:15 Arrival at the Football Club (course venue)
  • 09.15 – 09:30 Welcome and introduction to the course
  • 09:30 – 10.15 LECTURE 1: An overview to the world of cetaceans: life histories, classification, behavioural ecology and adaptations to the marine environment
  • 10:15 – 10:45 LECTURE 2: Cardigan Bay and its marine mammals fauna: why it is special and the species you are going to see
  • 10:45 – 11:00 Coffee break
  • 11:00 – 11:45 LECTURE 3: Techniques and tips on how to carry out land-watches
  • 11:45 – 12:10 LECTURE 4: How to collect data during boat- and land-surveys: instructions on how to evaluate and record environmental and ecological variables
  • 12:10 – 12:40 Break to purchase lunch

Outdoor session 1:

  • 12.40 – 14:40 LAND SURVEY 1: Land watch from Bird’s rock (New Quay)
  • 15.00 – 19:00 BOAT TRIP 1: Boat survey in the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation

Day 2

Indoor session 2

  • 09:00 – 09:15 Arrive at Football Club
  • 09.15 – 10:00 LECTURE 5: Cetaceans species identification lecture with videos
  • 10:00 – 10:45 LECTURE 6: Research techniques & monitoring using examples from the research in Wales
  • 10:45 – 11:00 Coffee break
  • 11:00 – 11:40 LECTURE 7: The world of cetaceans sounds: bioacoustics and the T-POD project
  • 11:40 – 12:30 LECTURE 8: Conservation and management of cetaceans
  • 12:30 – 13:00 Break to purchase lunch

Outdoor session 2

  • 13:00 – 17:00 BOAT TRIP 2: Boat survey in the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation
  • 17:15 – 17:30 Wrap up, certificates & farewells

Please note that, due to the unforeseeable weather conditions, the program might change and, in case of particularly adverse weather, the field trips may have to be modified.

All participants will receive a detailed manual on how to record and monitor cetaceans, a species identification booklet, and a certificate for completing the course.

The courses will be taught by experienced and enthusiastic staff from the Sea Watch Foundation:

Dr Peter Evans

established Sea Watch in 1991, and is its Director. Before that, he ran the UK Mammal Society Cetacean Group. He has worked on cetaceans for thirty years, and oversees the UK national cetacean monitoring scheme. He was the Founding Secretary of the European Cetacean Society, later its Chairman, and for 21 years its editor. He is a Director of Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust, a Trustee of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, and advisor to the government various NGO's and the oil & gas industry on cetacean matters. Peter's field research concentrates upon ecological, behavioural and conservation biology studies of cetaceans in UK particularly harbour porpoises, bottlenose dolphins, Risso’s dolphins and minke whales, as well as the effects of human disturbance upon cetaceans. With Professor J.A. Raga, he organises the European Seminar on Marine Mammals in Valencia, Spain, for students throughout Europe. He has also worked extensively on seabirds in Britain, Ireland and the arctic, and was former Secretary of the Seabird Group and editor of its journal Seabird. He has written or edited 12 books and 120 scientific publications, and is a Senior Lecturer in Ocean Sciences at the University of Wales Bangor.

Daphna Feingold

is our latest addition to the Sea Watch staff, having started in New Quay, Wales in April 2009, as the new Cardigan Bay Monitoring Officer. Daphna comes from Israel, and has a lot of previous cetacean field experience, having worked with IMMRAC (Israeli Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center) as well as the Tethys Research Institute where she was involved in the research and conservation of cetaceans in the Northern Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea respectively. During her work she gained experience in photo ID techniques with both bottlenose dolphins and Risso’s dolphins. Daphna also participated in the international SCANS line transect survey in July 2005, aimed at estimating small cetaceans.

Gemma Veneruso

first volunteered for Sea Watch in 2007, focussng upon photo- identification of bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay. Following a Research Masters degree in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth, where she investigated the population genetics of a cold water coral, the pink sea fan, she has now become our Sightings Officer, based in New Quay and is responsible for managing the regional sightings network with the help of regional co-ordinators. She communicates with observers from all backgrounds and promotes public education and awareness by dissemination of environmental information. Gemma also trains new observers, coordinates National Whale and Dolphin Watch week and assists the Monitoring Officer in conducting cetacean research in Cardigan Bay.

Pia Anderwald

from Switzerland, is Sea Watch's Database Officer. After a Masters thesis from the University of Zurich on niche differentiation of cetaceans in the North Atlantic using sightings data, she started a PhD at the University of Durham on the foraging ecology and genetics of minke whale in 2003. Pia has extensive field experience of a number of cetacean species including minkes, bottlenose and Risso’s dolphins, and harbour porpoises, as well as conducting behavioural studies, line transect surveys and photo-identification. Her role is to review sightings data for the database, oversee validation procedures, and integrating new data sets as well as performing spatial analyses using GIS. She is a co-author along with Peter Evans and Mick Baines of the UK Cetacean Status Review.

The price for the course is £180.00 and includes lectures, boat and land surveys, insurance and all the matherial provided, but excludes meals, travel and accommodation.

Download a booking form (PDF)

Download a list of accommodation(PDF)

Download a map of New Quay(PDF)

For information about the training courses and to book a place please contact us:

Tel: +44 (0)1545-561227
Email: gemma.veneruso@seawatchfoundation.org.uk

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