Research Summary
Argyll Island Atlantic Area, Hebrides, Scotland — This cluster of 550 scenic islands, covering an area of more than 40,000 square kilometers, is one of the most important habitats for whales, dolphins, and porpoises in Europe. Here the warm Gulf Stream mixes with colder seas to make highly productive waters, supporting around 24 species of cetaceans as well as countless seals, seabirds, and other ocean life. Many of the cetacean species found here, including harbor porpoises, bottlenose dolphins, and beaked whales, are national and international conservation priorities. You will join researchers at the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust are investigating the distribution and relative abundance of cetaceans throughout the waters of western Scotland to determine their use of habitat and to identify particular areas of importance or "hotspots" for conservation.
Meet the Scientists
Peter Stevick
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust
Dr. Peter Stevick is Scientific Director at HWDT and has been studying marine mammals for more than 25 years. This work has taken him to many parts of the world, including Antarctic waters, the Newfoundland coast, and, most recently, around the Hebrides. He has a Ph.D. in Ecology from St. Andrews University, where he studied the population ecology of North Atlantic humpback whales. His research interests include studies of abundance, movement patterns, and demographics, as well as foraging dynamics, biophysical relationships, and ecological roles of marine birds and mammals. Dr. Stevick will not normally be present on the Earthwatch teams but is in regular communication with the Silurian and contributes significantly to project planning and operation.
Nienke van Geel is HWDT’s Marine Biodiversity Officer. She was born in 1982 in the Netherlands. She is a marine mammal scientist with a particular interest in species’ distributions and habitat preferences. She has a M.Sc. in Natural Resources Management from Utrecht University (Netherlands), performing her final Master thesis on whales and dolphins of the Azores in relation to water depth and slope gradient. Last summer, she worked on the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s remote vehicle Song of the Whale project on acoustic detections of beaked whales around Madeira, the Azores, and the Canaries. Nienke started with HWDT in 2009 and she will be running the field research onboard the Silurian. She will be the main monitoring science officer and guide the volunteers. Additionally, she will oversee the data collection. In her free time, she likes playing hockey, sailing, travelling, and reading. In addition to fluent Dutch and English, she also speaks basic German and some French and Spanish.