Though I loved every minute of my time in Plymouth during the Dive Medical Technician course, I was itching to get my diving gear on and get back in the water. So, for my next adventure I headed to Newcastle to help out with a couple of kelp research projects for the University of Newcastle and the Dove Marine Research Station (so cool)! Extra cool is the fact that during my visit in Newcastle I got to look at and admire the biggest love of my life, which are macroalgae and in this case – kelps!

The first week of my stay was spent diving at the Farne islands, sharing a cottage with the dive team for the week: Rodrigo, Ellie, Rachael, and Peter. I was somewhat nervous before our first dive. This was a completely new environment, new people and even new gear (pony bottles). But after I got in the water and took the time to figure out my buoyancy with the new scuba and scientific gear – I had my first proper look at the kelp forest I was going to be working in, and it was absolutely breathtaking. This was my first time seeing kelp in real life and – as an absolute seaweed fanatic – I had been dreaming of this for a long time. I was instantly hooked. The week at the Farne islands was full of transect lines, quadrats (big and small), estimating coverage, counting individuals, and collecting samples of kelp and sea urchins, and getting to know the amazing team.

After an amazing week diving at the Farne Islands we headed back to Newcastle where I was to help on another research project. Over the next two weeks I helped Robyn and Alex in their projects. The study sites were located close to Newcastle and on many field days we were reminded that diving and marine research field work is not always that straightforward since diving is very much a weather-dependent activity – multiple dives were cancelled due to bad weather conditions. But when we did dive we conducted transect lines to assess coverage and quadrats to calculate kelp individuals separated into different categories (juveniles with split blade or not and adults).

My experience in Newcastle definitely provided me with amazing opportunity to learn and see how diving can be implemented beyond the projects I had previously done in Finland. I loved my time in Newcastle and getting to spend time quality time getting to know the people who dive and work at the Dove.

An extra warm thank you to Pippa Moore who invited me over to Newcastle, to Rodrigo and Robyn for trusting me to help with their research, and to Ellie and Rachael who made sure I had an awesome time even outside of the office hours! Can’t wait to see you guys again (hopefully soon)!

Thank you again so much to the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society for making this opportunity possible. Also an extra warm thank you to all of my amazing sponsors Fourth Element, DAN Europe, Halcyon, Backscatter and Suunto for helping me on my journey! 

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