College students had a whale of a time as they learnt about the aquatic creatures. 

Level 3 Countryside and Wildlife students from Kingston Maurward College have returned from the trip of a lifetime with the Atlantic Whale Foundation (AWF) in Puerto Colon, Tenerife. 

The whale-watching tour supported the students’ learning about conservation and human threats to marine wildlife and helped to teach a host of new facts on the subject. 

The AWF has been monitoring Short-Finned Pilot Wales and Bottlenose Dolphins for the last 25 years to try and establish population sizes and the effect that charter boats have on their behaviour.

Staff and students went out on the boats each day and recorded the numbers of each species, their sex, the exact time and location of each interaction and took photographs of the whales’ and dolphins’ dorsal fins so that they could identify individual animals when they returned to the research centre. 

Tutor Neil Willson said: “The students had a wonderful time and were really excited at the prospect of seeing whales and dolphins every day. 

“The data recording they undertook will provide further valuable data for AWF. They have also had the opportunity to develop their interpersonal skills when talking to the passengers and working in a team, which will help them when they go into employment, and a great thing for them to be able to put on their CVs.”

Students spoke to passengers about the AWF and the work they are doing to increase awareness of the threats to whale and dolphin populations. By the end of the week students were able to lead their own groups of volunteers based on their newly gained knowledge.

To date more than 600 individual Pilot Whales have been identified with a population estimated at over 800. The whales are attracted to the deep water just off the coast where there is an abundance of food.

Students that complete the level 3 diploma have a chance to go on to study marine ecology and conservation.

For more information about Kingston Maurward College go to kmc.ac.uk and for information about AWF go to whalenation.org