It can sometimes take a long time to spot anything and I can guarantee that something will pop up the minute you walk away! It used to happen to me all the time. “Wrap up warm (it can be surprisingly nippy on deck), grab a cup of coffee and be patient. What an amazing sight!” Emma’s top tips for spotting marine wildlife on your ferry crossing “It’s between being interrupted during a deckwatch by a pod of around 25 orca breaching beside the ship, passing through a superpod of over 4000 striped dolphin (there were dolphins in all directions as far as the eye could see!) or holding the record for the highest number of fin whale (the second largest animal in the world) in one afternoon of 196 individual animals. During that time, I had some amazing encounters and my most memorable is difficult to choose. P&O: What’s been your favourite spotting/moment while you were out?ĮNW: “I spent four years working as a Wildlife Officer on the ex-P&O Ferry Pride of Bilbao which sailed to Northern Spain. This work also helps to raise awareness of an aspect of our seas that few people appreciate – we have a fantastic selection of whales, dolphins and seabirds in our waters that some people might assume you have to travel abroad to see!” “By using ferries, we’re able to collect information on the distribution of both cetaceans and sea birds, which helps managers and policy makers make important and informed decisions about marine management and conservation. Research Surveyor Tom Brereton on an outing. Through these projects and collaborations with like-minded organisations, we aim to further the conservation of the wildlife of oceans and coasts through scientific investigation and educational activities. P&O: What’s the purpose of the records that you create on these crossings?ĮNW: “Our surveys are dedicated effort surveys run on a monthly basis by trained volunteers to record whales, dolphins and porpoises as well as seabirds. I always love travelling by ferry and get really excited about the possibilities of what I might see.” For MARINElife, heading out to complete surveys on ferries is really important as it allows us a cheap, reliable and regular way to get out and gather data on the state of marine wildlife.
P&O: What’s it like to go out looking for marine wildlife on a ferry?Įmma Neave-Webb: “We’re really lucky here in the UK to have some amazing wildlife living in or visiting our seas regularly. Read on to hear about some of her favourite on-board experiences, as well as her top tips for anyone hoping to spot some fantastic creatures for themselves on their next crossing. We spoke to Emma Neave-Webb, Vice-Chair of Trustee Board at MARINElife, who has been spotting marine wildlife on our ferry routes for several years. Did you know that P&O Ferries routes are regularly used by Research Surveyors for MARINElife, a charity that keeps records of sightings to aid marine management and conservation? In fact, the group’s first outings started on a former P&O ferry service that ran from the UK to Bilbao.