Ashleigh Fay
Current research
I'll be looking at Australian fur seal interactions around oil and gas infrastructure in the Gippsland Basin, eastern Bass Strait.
What my project involves
Analyzing underwater ROV footage of seals foraging and playing around subsea pipelines, as well as imagery of them having a snooze on the oil and gas platforms!
Fun trivia about my research
oil and gas structures act as artificial reefs to support an abundance of marine life
Research project in a haiku
Research-related interests
Pinniped behaviour, Pinniped physiology, thermal physiology, climate impacts
About me
I'm from New Jersey in the US and grew up around quite flat, sandy shorelines. We got an occasional seal sighting, but my time vacationing in Alaska growing up really peaked my interest into marine predators and how they could be impacted by the changing climate.
Previous work I've done
I worked in wildlife response at the Alaska SeaLife Center taking care of harbor seal pups and sea otter pups! As well as a whale watching naturalist around New York Harbour! Completely separate from marine predators, I did my undergraduate thesis in New Zealand on the skeletal carbonate mineralogy of exoskeletons!
