Scottish Dolphin Centre Residential Volunteer & Guide
About the organisation
At Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) our vision is of a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. We are looking for dedicated residential volunteers to join our team at WDC’s Scottish Dolphin Centre (Moray, Northeast Scotland).
We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment and would like to hear from you, whatever your background, culture, identity, or experiences. Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience, we believe that diversity enriches our team and helps us better serve our visitors.
The Visitor Centre and volunteer accommodation is based in a beautiful location adjacent to a reserve at the mouth of the river Spey where it meets the North Sea. The largest bottlenose dolphins in the world can be seen feeding regularly along with ospreys, seals, the occasional otter and a huge variety of other wildlife.
Aim:
- Deliver a fun and high-quality visitor experience through interpretation, tours and events at WDC’s Scottish Dolphin Centre to help raise awareness of the work of Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
- To support the WDC Education Coordinator to deliver the WDC Education Programme through talks, outdoor learning and workshops.
- To support the WDC Shorewatch Coordinator in data collection for the land based Shorewatch programme, and to assist in the support of Shorewatch volunteers at sites in the Moray Firth.
WDC Shorewatch is the charity’s citizen science programme and involves a network of trained volunteers monitoring the presence and absence of whales and dolphins at selected sites around the Scottish coastline.
About the role
Main responsibilities
- Delivering environmental interpretation – inspiring people to take an interest and care for the environment through land-based dolphin watching, tours (of the historic Tugnet icehouse), talks and guided wildlife walks.
- Visitor engagement – raising the profile of WDC – amaze and inspire our visitors about the world of whales and dolphins and the work that we do to protect them, keep visitors informed of the latest WDC campaigns
- Managing ‘front of house’ of the visitor Centre including welcoming visitors, customer service (in the Centre’s eco-friendly gift shop), re-stocking the shop, cashing up at the beginning and end of each shift (3 days per week)
- Assisting the Education Coordinator with the WDC schools programme including delivering talks, running workshops and assisting with group visits to the Scottish Dolphin Centre for groups of all ages from Primary School through to university
- Citizen Science – Assisting the Shorewatch programme; through conducting regular 10-minute land-based cetacean watches and assisting the Shorewatch Coordinator in supporting volunteer citizen scientists via online and in-person resources and events.
Project work, which may include:
- Creating content for and delivering the Centre’s kids’ activities in the Scottish school holidays
- Developing interpretative and educational resources to support the Education Programme and the Scottish Dolphin Centre
- Digital Marketing – creating physical and digital marketing resources i.e. flyers, posters, social media posts on FB, X, Instagram & TikTok
- Assisting with online trainings for the WDC Shorewatch programme
- Creating content for the WDC Shorewatch newsletter
- Supporting volunteer citizen scientists – create and input into a variety of online and in person events/resources (webinars, practical survey sessions, community events)
- Raising awareness of cetacean disturbance through involvement of WDC’s #RudeToIntrude campaign
Requirements
Essential skills, experience and qualities:
- Excellent command of the English language (both written and spoken)
- Excellent communication & organisation skills
- Must enjoy working with children and people of all ages
- Able to work as part of a team
- Enthusiasm for the marine environment and terrestrial wildlife
- Self-motivated with the ability to work unsupervised
- Flexibility in the workplace
- Highly motivated and eager to learn
- Good problem solver with a ‘can do’ attitude
It is not essential to have a car or clean driving license, but Spey Bay is a small village with no amenities and no public transport, so a car will make your experience more enjoyable. Volunteers with cars are also able to attend events and/or school talks more easily.
Salary and benefits
This is an unpaid position.
The residential role provides the following:
- Free onsite accommodation in an area of outstanding natural beauty
- £35 weekly food budget per person (covering food and household items not cosmetics or alcohol)
- Extensive training which includes:
- WDC Shorewatch training – whale & dolphin ID, data collection and entry
- Interpretive Guiding Techniques and delivering tours
- WDC Education training: delivering engaging activities to children
- Health & Safety and Child Protection
- Regular progress meetings and feed-back sessions
- Advice & guidance on writing application forms and ‘how to present’ (towards the end of your placement)
- Mileage expenses
You will gain skills & experience in:
- Effective communication & public speaking
- Project management & presentation skills
- Developing interpretive resources and leading activities for the public
- Interpretive guiding – delivering interpretive workshops, talks and a variety of activities to a wide-ranging audience
- Designing resources and leading activities for school groups
- Land based cetacean monitoring
- Running a visitor centre
- Volunteer supervision/training
- An increased knowledge of cetaceans & Scottish wildlife
- Monitoring Health and Safety
Start date
- 2nd of September to the 31st of October 2025
- Volunteering 5 days a week, including weekends
- Must be committed for the whole time to gain the full range of experience and to make a worthwhile contribution to our work
How to apply
Application packs can be downloaded at http://uk.whales.org/jobs
Contact Cath Bain or Alison Rose for more details: 01343 820339
Please note that we are unable to accept CVs as an application.
Further details about the Centre can be found at https://dolphincentre.whales.org
Please return applications to: volunteers.scotland@whales.org
Closing date: 10am on the 21st of July – interviews will be held virtually in the w/c 28th July.
