Just five months before my graduation, my thoughts turned to life
beyond St Andrews. Following a Fourth Year course in marine mammal
biology, I decided to follow a lifelong interest, and pursue a career in
the exciting area of marine mammal science.
I applied to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in the early Spring, and
was invited to interview shortly before the May exams. Happily, the
interview went as well as I could have imagined and I wasn’t kept
waiting too long before being told that I had been successful. I was to
take over as the seal fieldwork assistant/biologist on Bird Island, to
the western end of South Georgia, about 1200 miles to the southeast of
the South American continent, and surrounded by the frigid waters south
of the polar front.
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| Bird Island is home to 65,000 Antarctic fur seals, which were to fall
under the remit of my work for the next two-and-a-half years spent
living and working here. I arrived at the beginning of November, and so
far the job has been action-packed and absolutely captivating. The
wildlife on Bird Island is unbelievable and I feel extremely fortunate
to be here. I never envisaged myself working long hours in an office,
and here I am in the sub-Antarctic, where my ‘office’ is a seal breeding
beach. |
