Have you ever wanted to know what a marine biologist does in a day? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Cape RADD offers a four-week Marine Science Field Course. Learn how to SCUBA dive or brush up on your skills. Learn about the marine life of False Bay, attend lectures and collect data for Cape RADD. Conduct fish surveys, and set up quadrants to calculate marine abundance and diversity. Operating Baited videos and taking photos of sharks. Welcome to the day in the life of a marine science field course student!
No two days are the same at Cape RADD, whether we stick to a planned schedule or change plans based on the weather. It could be four seasons in a day in Simon’s Town. The day typically begins at 9 am. The students and volunteers get picked up at the accommodation and are dropped off at the Ocean HUB. From there, depending on the weather, we will either get geared up in our wetsuits or prepare our dive kits. After a briefing about the dive site and objectives, we’ll go to the dive site either by truck or boat. We enter the ocean by shore (Which could be sandy or rocky) or by boat (falling backwards into the ocean!).
We will then descend together to the bottom and begin data collection. These can include; Fin Spotter: a program developed by Dylan Irion where anyone can take a photo of puffadder shy and cat sharks and upload the photo to the website where it will automatically identify if it’s a new or recurring shark by analysing their unique patterns.
Quadrant surveys: we set up quadrants to count marine abundance and diversity, this can include sea anemones, starfish, urchins, algae, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs and many more. We also help marine biologist students conduct their thesis. At the end of every dive, everyone helps out by cleaning all of the equipment, washing everything in clean water to remove all the salt and putting them away in the storage room. On days when the weather isn’t great, we’re in the classroom having lectures and inputting data. Lectures may include measuring biodiversity, scientific diving techniques, kelp forest research, nudibranchs and code. Some days we have practical lectures such as looking at parasites through a microscope and analysis work.
A Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) is a device where we place bait in a metal perforated cylinder and at the other end is a GoPro. The BRUV is placed in the water and the GoPro records everything for about an hour. Once the time is up, we take out the BRUV and watch the recordings and note down everything we see. Lunch breaks are usually an hour and there are plenty of cafes and restaurants to choose from. If there’s a souvenir that you still need to buy for a family member or friend, there are plenty of curio shops for you.
The day ends around 4:30 pm, which means free time! There are many things to do in Simon’s town and Glencairn. Relax at the many beaches or the Glencairn tidal pool, bars and restaurants. Enjoy hiking trails if you still have enough energy after diving. Or just relax back at the volunteer house, creating memories with the other field course students and volunteers.
You’re always doing something new and different as a field course student. Diving at different entry points, collecting data on marine species and expanding your knowledge with the lectures. Even with the little things, you’re always improving bit by bit. For instance, I got faster putting my wetsuit on and getting myself up on the boat without looking like a beached whale. If you’re a future marine biologist or someone who loves the ocean and learning something new, Cape RADD’s Marine Science Field Course is for you. You’ll have the time of your life!