A few words from our new Communication and Outreach Officer..
After working from home all through winter we are so happy to now be based back in our New Quay office for the summer ahead. As I am new to Sea Watch Foundation and the office I thought I’d introduce myself and talk about what has been happening over the last few weeks and what we’ve got planned for Sea Watch Foundation this summer. I wrote a bit about myself in our quarterly Sea Watcher magazine but for those who don’t know, my name is Katie and I’m the new Communication and Outreach Officer at Sea Watch! I moved down to New Quay at the start of the month, and I’ve been loving exploring this part of Wales, particularly the coastal paths. Prior to my move down here, I was based up in Cumbria, which is possibly my favourite place in the world – New Quay might sway me yet though! I loved growing up in Cumbria with the amazing hiking, swimming and paddleboarding spots. That being said, I am excited for this new adventure, and I can’t wait to get out on my paddleboard down here.
Firstly, a little summary of what has been happening over the past few weeks! We welcomed our Period 1 interns almost three weeks ago now and since then they have been getting to grips with all aspects of their internship – public awareness, data entry, photo-ID, landwatches and boat surveys. They had a visit from our director, Peter who traveled down from his home in Anglesey to deliver his famous talk on How Sea Watch Began which was enjoyed by all. We can’t wait to see what our interns continue to achieve during their time with us!
Planning events and Easter weekend
Over my time here I have begun to put together a provisional calendar of events that we hope to hold over the coming months. We’ll be hosting events here in New Quay but also around the country and online so that we can reach as many people as possible. The aim is to spread awareness about our work at Sea Watch Foundation, educate about marine conservation and hopefully raise money for our research too. We have also got our annual Orca Watch and National Whale and Dolphin Watch events which we hope to be a great success this year. Some of our event ideas so far include: An Evening with Sea Watch Foundation, Dinner with a Dolphin (landwatch event), beach BBQ, a pub quiz and school/club visits.
This month, we kicked off our events with Easter weekend. Although only their first week in New Quay, our interns managed to put on a very successful bake sale on the Pier and run a couple of rock pool safaris. For such a last-minute event we were thrilled to raise a total of £91.37 and we’d like to thank everyone who came down and for their generosity. For our next bake sale, we hope to have our homemade dog treats so your furry friends can join in too! Katherine, and our intern Lauren, worked hard last week to get the Dolphin Hub prepared for the upcoming summer months. We’ve now got a reading and play area, crafts table, shop and book sale – if you’d like to take a virtual tour then click here, or we’d love to see you in New Quay soon.
During the Easter holidays we had a few visits to our Hub including one of our Adoptees, Megan! Megan had come to find out the latest on her adopted dolphin, Berry and drew us a lovely photo. We’ve pinned it to our new blank mural that we hope to fill with artwork over the next few months! If you would like to find out more about how to Adopt a Dolphin or you would like to send anything to us for our mural please don’t hesitate to contact outreach@seawatchfoundation.org.uk, our Education and Outreach Assistant, Katherine would love to hear from you.
Boat surveys in April
Finally, we have had some exciting survey trips over the last couple of weeks. Katrin headed up to north Wales with a few interns to conduct an environmental impact assessment. They had a couple of sightings of seals and porpoises and the weather was great which was a bonus! This Thursday, Claudia and our intern, Ken hopped on board Dreamcatcher with Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips in New Quay for a photo-ID trip. They had a close encounter with eleven individuals including a calf. Claudia will be filling you in on the details of this trip in a blog post at some point!
Our Annual General Meeting 2022
This weekend we look forward to our Annual General Meeting which, this year, we are running as a hybrid event. We are welcoming people to join us at the Sports Bar in New Quay or remotely via YouTube from 2pm. I am so excited to be taking on this role with Sea Watch Foundation and I would like to thank them for offering me this amazing opportunity. Here’s to a great few months of raising awareness for all things marine conservation!If you would like to get in contact with any ideas for event or opportunities, then please don’t hesitate to contact me at katie.baker@seawatchfoundation.org.uk
Katie Baker Communication and Outreach Officer
