A Second Chance At A Dream Career

Debbie’s MMCP Blog July2024

As a self-confessed “cat lady” from England, a lockdown epiphany led me to realise that I wasn’t doing enough to help save our oceans and the creatures that live in them. I love the sea, scuba diving and conservation work, so I asked myself, what would it take to make another career doing something I’m so passionate about? Months later I was accepted by Plymouth University to study a degree in Marine Biology. As part of a programme at the University in collaboration with The Manta Trust, I was awarded an internship at the Manta Caribbean Project on Isla Mujeres, Mexico - and here I am!

Mexico is one of my favourite places in the world and manta rays have always fascinated me but I still had no idea what to expect. I won’t lie, there have been some interesting challenges: from working in the heat and hunkering down for Hurricane Beryl, to needing reading glasses to read CTD figures on the boat and being a complete novice for the first time since I can remember. However, only two weeks in, not only have I had some truly remarkable experiences swimming close to manta rays, whale sharks, nurse sharks and turtles, I have learnt more than I thought possible – some things expected, some not so much.

ID’ing a manta ray is challenging as it involves repeated, and often superfast, snorkelling sprints and then duck-diving down to photograph the underside of the manta where all the important information is – the spots that provide a unique “name” for each manta, the sex, mating scars or injuries. It’s a skill I’m still learning; having to hold my breath, operate a camera and position myself well but not to disturb the manta seems a lot to focus on at once.

Watching the experts do it is truly mesmerising and I’m practising lots so hopefully I can master the technique before I go. Whilst swimming with the mantas is arguably a spiritual experience, the work is ultimately underpinned by science, and processing the IDs when we’re back at our base is exciting too.  With our newly-acquired research equipment skills, we record all the sightings and behaviours information about each animal as well as all the data from the field trip itself: GPS, boat sightings, other animals of note, plankton tow content, and CTD information for the salinity, temperature and depth of the water. We also get to find out if we’ve seen new mantas or whether they’re old friends returning to the site.

I now have new expertise in Lionfish dissection, honed supporting a local research project that’s been awarded a government subsidy. The team here is not only extracting these highly invasive, reef-decimating species from our oceans, but is also gaining valuable insights into their diet and the potential consumption of microplastics. The fish are then used for food and local artisans use the skins to create products for tourists – it’s such a worthwhile project to be involved with. 

We’ve also learned about the impacts of ghost fishing gear – fishing equipment that is lost and abandoned at sea – that continues to entangle animals and damage reefs for decades, and we’ve interviewed sports fishermen about how they use the MPA to assess for any potential impact to the mantas. Social media is also important to the project, playing a key role in communicating our activities and learnings to supporters of the project, local communities and manta lovers around the world, spreading awareness of the mantas’ vulnerability and the threats they face.

In amongst all of this, there has been downtime, of course, and we’ve had fun exploring the island, in particular its beaches, dive sites and extensive range of margarita flavours. Coming up in the last couple of weeks, we have exciting activities such as promoting the project at a public festival event and spending time in the nature reserve of Isla Contoy helping a turtle conservation project - more amazing learning opportunities and memories ahead.

It hasn’t escaped my notice that the people pioneering this project and campaigning for change are women. This leadership has been particularly inspiring to witness. My fellow interns, all impressive in their passion and drive, represent the next generation of voices to take this experience and make their own differences. I’ll be joining them of course, but I can’t wait to see what they go on to achieve after this incredible experience.

My personal, special thanks to Karen and my fellow manta teammates, the University of Plymouth, the Ocean Giants Programme, The Manta Trust, Ashfords LLP Plymouth, and to my family and friends for all of their support and encouragement that has ultimately enabled me to be here, fulfilling a life-long dream 