**Please note, this event is the rescheduled Meet the Scientist talk from 22 October 2024. All those who had already registrered have been automatically transferred to this new date.**
Sometimes overlooked for their more boisterous cousins, the harbour porpoise is actually the most common cetacean (whale, dolphin, porpoise) in the North Sea, with an estimate of over 300,000 using our waters each year. But despite how common they are, these diminutive animals are pretty hard to study.
Delve into the world of Scottish harbour porpoises with Helen Hiley, PhD researcher at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of the Highlands and Islands. Learn about their life history, ecology, and behaviour, as well as some of the methods we use to study them. By highlighting some of the work currently taking place to better understand them, this talk will aim to uncover some of the mysteries behind harbour porpoises and, hopefully, show just how interesting these little guys are!
About Helen
Helen is a SUPER-funded PhD researcher studying harbour porpoises in Scottish and Northern Irish waters. She now lives on the west coast of Scotland but grew up in East Lothian (and even attended the opening of the Seabird Centre as a child). When younger, she spent hours by the sea in Gullane and North Berwick looking out at the water hoping to spot the fin of a dolphin or a porpoise. It wasn’t until years later, however, after studying marine mammal science at the University of St Andrews, that she encountered her first Firth of Forth cetacean while working as a wildlife guide on the boat trips that run from here at the Scottish Seabird Centre. After years of studying both bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises, in the UK and abroad, Helen is pleased to return to the Centre to share her experiences and research, and shine the light on the secret lives of harbour porpoises.
This event is FREE, but numbers are limited.
Please register to attend and please consider making a donation via our Just Giving page below or selecting a donation ticket to support our vital conservation and education work.
https://www.justgiving.com/scottishseabird-centre
All our education and conservation activities are designed to motivate people to make positive changes in their own lives to protect the marine environment now and in the future. Your support will help ensure we can continue to do that in the years to come. Thank you.
No former knowledge required.
This is a 1 hour online session.
A Zoom link, full joining instructions and information about the event will be shared via email the day before the event.
