An Interview – Simon Waitland

This week on ‘An Interview with WiseOceans’ we spoke with Simon Waitland

Name: Simon Waitland

Role: Research Support Technician

Company: Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews

Top Tip: Don’t compare your progress to others!

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in marine conservation? 

During the first summer of my undergraduate degree I was at a bit of a loose end, so completely on a whim I decided to volunteer with a sea turtle conservation project in Greece, and ended up absolutely loving it. I chose some marine biology modules in the next two years of my degree, and returned to the same project in Greece for a few more seasons – since then I’ve never looked back!

2. What steps did you take or are you currently taking to achieve your career goals?

Having only been able to study a little marine biology during my undergrad, I knew at some point I would probably need a master’s degree to give me more knowledge and skills in this field. Before returning to university, I continued working at the same sea turtle project in Greece to gain more leadership experience, and then at another in Costa Rica to work with different species in a new setting. Doing a master’s in Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation gave me a solid academic background alongside my fieldwork skills, and since then I’ve volunteered and worked for a few more conservation projects before landing my current job. Along the way, I’ve also taken the time to get scuba qualifications to bolster my CV (and enjoy the underwater world).

3. How did you obtain your current position? 

I was coming to the end of seasonal field role and looking for jobs for when I returned home. I saw the job advert as someone I knew from my master’s had retweeted it, and I applied from there. In between applying and interviewing for this job, I ended up doing a short stint at APEM analysing aerial survey images, which probably gave me an edge when I eventually interviewed with SMRU as aerial surveys are a large part of my role here.

4. Which part of your job do you enjoy the most?  

I’m always happiest when out in the field. In this job I’ve been very fortunate to spend some time living amongst the breeding seals on the Isle of May – spending hours every day surrounded by thousands of mums and pups and getting to know their personalities was incredibly fun. Our aerial surveys of seal colonies across the country are also a real privilege – flying along the coastline at 1000ft is pretty special.

5. Are there aspects of your position which make you feel that you are really ‘making a difference’? 

The seal population estimates that I help collect are provided to SCOS (the Special Committee on Seals), which then directly informs population management strategies for seals across the UK.

6. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were starting out?

It’s easy to have an idealistic view of how to solve conservation issues (e.g. banning a fishery to reduce bycatch of threatened species), but the real world is never that simple. Lasting conservation efforts are those that involve local communities and get them on board – so remember to listen to people with different perspectives!

7. Are there any skills you never thought you would need but did?

Having a driving licence has been a critical factor at almost every stage of my career. So many projects rely on driving to get around between field sites, and most job adverts I’ve seen in the last few years list a driving licence on their essential skills requirements.

8. What advice would you give to budding marine conservationists?  

As with any career, marine conservation has ups and downs, and everyone’s journey is different. Don’t compare your progress to others, and always take social media with a grain of salt – marine conservation work isn’t all fun in the sun! Your peers might be posting their successes and amazing fieldwork in far flung places, while you’ve just been rejected from your millionth job application and are questioning every life choice you’ve made, but always remember Instagram isn’t real life. Behind every picture-perfect moment can be days or weeks (or even months!) of blood, sweat and tears in the field to find that animal/get that photo/deploy that tag. Something that looks great online might have only been a single glorious moment from a period of hardship. Also remember to check in with your marine friends to make sure they’re doing okay – we all inevitably pour a lot of ourselves into our work and it can take its toll sometimes.

Above all, if you’re having a bad day, try to remember what made you choose this career in the first place.

9. What is your favourite marine creature and why?

I’m going to cheat as I could never choose just one, but at a real push it’s between the blue whale (hearing David Attenborough’s narration about them in the original Blue Planet series as a kid will forever be stamped in my memory), and the loggerhead sea turtle (my first encounter with these lovable little dinosaurs in Greece was what set me down the marine conservation path).

10. What is your most unforgettable moment in the sea?

During my master’s I spent some time on a research boat off Mallorca. I had just swum back to the boat after being sent out to film a loggerhead turtle hanging around a piece of drifting debris (another lifetime highlight), when someone on lookout had shouted that they’d spotted devil rays. As I looked around underwater, I saw two enormous shapes emerging through the haze and was stunned when they began feeding and dancing around me. The encounter only lasted a few minutes before they moved on, but I’ll never forget it.