In 2021, MASTS awarded 10 Emerging from Lockdown Grants to MASTS members, one of which was Heriot Watt University PhD student Emily Hague. The grant was awarded for her project ” Insights into marine vessel traffic and marine mammal usage of a busy urban waterway [short report linked]” which has further developed into the digitisation of 2 years of valuable citizen science sightings of marine mammals in the Firth of Forth.
The data are between April 2021 – April 2023 were digitisaed by Emily and the Marine Spatial Analysis Group based at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) on behalf of the Forth Marine Mammals.
The Forth Marine Mammal Project is a group of people with a keen interest in marine mammals in the Forth. Together, they want to build understanding of the marine mammals that visit the Forth and help raise public awareness about the wildlife that occurs in this area.
“We ask anyone who has seen a marine mammal (whale, dolphin, porpoise or seal) in the Firth of Forth to report their sighting to the ‘ Forth Marine Mammals ‘ Facebook page. We encourage anyone interested to join the page, report their sightings (even if you’re unsure of species!) and to use it to help enjoy and learn more about the wonderful nature our local area.”
