Find out more
We’re excited to share the details of our various programmes, outreach and initiatives through our environmental blog.
Marine Awareness Programme
A journey with us is made even more special by the beauty that surrounds our vessels. We feel it’s our responsibility to not only showcase these wonderful waters but also raise awareness of just how important they are, and the ways in which their natural beauty is under threat. Our Marine Awareness Programme exists to raise awareness of the marine environment in the west of Scotland.
Programme objectives
The key objectives of the Marine Awareness Programme are:
- To use our fleet of vessels to undertake marine biodiversity monitoring with Citizen Science volunteers using a standardised methodology
- To undertake on board passenger engagement to raise marine environment awareness with both visitors and locals across the west of Scotland
- To bring together existing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in marine awareness and monitoring across the west of Scotland to facilitate information sharing
- To identify opportunities to engage with the communities of the west of Scotland to raise awareness of marine conservation issues
Project background
In 2016, we commissioned MacArthur Green and the University of the West of Scotland to produce a Blue Economy in the West of Scotland paper. It identified a number of opportunities for us to support the delivery of the Scottish Marine Plan.
Identified opportunities were investigated and, through extensive conversation with Marine Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, it was decided that we could support with marine biodiversity monitoring.
The project proposed by us, alongside partners Marine Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, was a collaborative Citizen Science programme using our vessels to gather marine biodiversity data, building on the background data already being gathered by various NGOs.
A workshop was held in April 2017 with a number of key stakeholders who already undertook marine biodiversity monitoring, citizen science projects and community engagement in the west of Scotland. During the workshop, the project scope was determined to include marine bird and marine mammal monitoring and engagement with the local and wider community.
A key requirement of the project is that marine biodiversity monitoring is undertaken by volunteers using standardised methods. With this in mind, the methodology that is currently used to observe marine mammals from our large vessels by organisations such as ORCA and MARINElife was adopted for mammal monitoring. The European Seabirds At Sea (ESAS) methodology used by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee was adopted for marine bird monitoring.
