ON DECK

Ferries aren't just for transport, they're also perfect vessels for conservation

- MELISSA HOBSON

It’s silent on the bridge as the captain carefully navigates out of Newhaven Harbour in East Sussex. With just inches to spare on either side of the ship, it takes full concentration. “We don’t want the crew to know we’re here,” Carol whispers. “They’re here to do a job.” Despite how it sounds, we aren’t stowaways. We’re here to do a job, too.

It’s July 2023 and I’m shadowing Carol Farmer-Wright and Mandy Bright – wildlife enthusiasts and volunteers for the charity MARINElife – as they survey wildlife and record data from aboard a passenger ferry on a round trip to Dieppe, France.

“Adult herring gull. Breeding plumage. Number three,” calls Carol. I look at the small dots bobbing on the ocean and peer through binoculars. This is going to be harder than I thought.

The data-collection process seems overwhelming at first. As well as noting which species they see, where, at what time and the estimated age ( juveniles often have different plumage), volunteers use a numerical code to record different behaviours, such as flying, feeding and resting. In this case, ‘number three’ refers to the bird actively feeding.