DEFRA release new guidance for visitors to the UK coastline
Really exciting news coming from DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) this week, as they release their Marine and coastal wildlife code, a document aimed at helping people act more responsibly when visiting the UK coast. Our coastlines support a vast array of species and habitats, and it is so important, when visiting […]
LIFE AS AN MMO IN SE-ASIA: Part II
On completion of the 14-day quarantine I was collected by a company driver and taken to my new base of operations, a sleepy fishing village that comes alive at the weekend. Visitors flock in to enjoy fresh seafood at the local fish market. The town is filled with 3D art where cranes are dressed up […]
OSC presentation on ROV-based research at MASTS 2020
OSC staff were excited to attend the 10th Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) Annual Science Meeting, which was held online between 5–9 October. MASTS 2020 was centred around major innovations in the field of marine sciences that have characterised and shaped the past decade. Themes discussed during the five-day conference covered […]
OSC to attend A Community on Ecosystem Services 2016 conference in Florida
OSC will be attending the A Community on Ecosystem Services (ACES) conference, to be held from 5-9 December 2016 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. The conference focuses on linking science, practice and decision-making around sustainability and ecosystem services. One of our founding Directors, Dr Victoria Todd, will be a panel member in Session 49 on Thursday afternoon, entitled ‘Do […]
Ocean Science Consulting gains ISO certification
Ocean Science Consulting Ltd (OSC) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded International Organization of Standardization (ISO) certification by Alcumus ISOQAR (a United Kingdom Accreditation Services [UKAS] accredited certification body) for the supply of marine environmental and offshore support services. Certification has been awarded for ISO 9001: 2008 (quality management), ISO 14001: 2004 […]
T-PODs and C-PODs return from the field
All our C-PODs and T-PODs have returned safely from the field and OSC’s 100% POD recovery rate remains intact. All the PODs have been cleaned up, and the remaining data is being downloaded now.
Marine mammals and man-made structures
Recent research has demonstrated that harbour (Phoca vitulina) and grey (Halichoerus grypus) seals target wind turbines and pipelines as foraging locations (Russell et al. (2014); http://bit.ly/1rKXHR4). This research is in agreement with Ocean Science Consulting’s (OSC) on going rigs-to-reefs research around offshore installations in the North Sea. Results so far have indicated that harbour porpoises […]
OSC’s Spott Road nature reserve
Exciting things are happening at our Spott Road premises in Dunbar. Workers have been busy over the past few weeks transforming our nature reserve. We hope to encourage as much wildlife as possible into our reserve, so part of the pond will be devoted to nature, but it is also a place to test equipment, […]
OSC’s talk on porpoises and rigs axed from MAST meeting
In an astonishing series of events, OSC was informed that their accepted talk “Offshore rigs as dinner gongs for porpoises” had been axed from the rigs-to-reefs MASTS workshop programme, despite being the only published work on this particular research in the world. The MASTS workshop entitled “To Remove or not to Remove?” – strikingly similar […]
Acoustics aids in individual recognition of animals
It has long been known that some odontocetes (toothed whales and dolphins) produce sounds with unique frequency modulation patterns known as signature whistles. Research has shown that these individually identifiable whistles, which are formed early in life, play a similar role to names in humans. Under normal circumstances, signature whistles account for 50% of whistle […]