Coleg y Môr

A portion of the grant was to upgrade our existing marine exhibition at the Ocean Lab. The first phase of the upgrade is complete and the Sea Môr Aquarium is now an all weather visitor attraction enjoyed by children and adults. Thanks to the grant from SDF we now employ 4 paid staff and an apprentice. We have also developed our internship programme and have around 10 interns a year that come to volunteer their time and learn vital practical marine conservation skills.

Marine conservation based education, scientific research and environmental monitoring

The second phase of this project involves expanding and trialling outdoor activities such as guided wildlife boat trips that are also used as an opportunity for scientific research. Potential research undertaken at the Ocean Lab will identify and aim to mitigate issues challenging our marine environment including topics such as habitat loss, biodiversity declines, climate change, pollution, invasive species and over-exploitation of marine resources.

We are also forging partnerships with other organisations and educational institutions. For example, we are working with Swansea University as part of a SEACAMS project. They are  assisting us to develop protocols for data collection, handling and analysis protocols for baseline monitoring at a tidal energy site.

The Coleg y Môr pilot project is exploring the possibilities of further developing and placing on a firmer more sustainable footing the extremely important conservation and education work that has been undertaken to date to secure the delivery of much wider environmental, social and economic benefits into the future.