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Imagine yourself exploring the seabed off the Galapagos Islands, gliding
through the flora and fauna in a submersible craft. Your task is to study
the abundance of animals that live near hot, sulphurous vents in the sea
floor, and to find the reasons for their high levels of productivity. David
Dixon of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Plymouth Marine Laboratory
and Eve Southward of the Marine Biological Association recently completed
these studies, finding communities of animals living on the bacteria that
thrive on chemicals released from the vents.

Alternatively, imagine yourself on board ship on a cold windy, rolling
sea, or wading into the waters of an estuary, collecting biological samples
to monitor the effects of effluent from a nearby power station. This is
the world of the marine biologist who is privileged to enter this often
unexplored, strange, underwater world as researcher taking photographic
and video evidence, removing samples for examination and testing them back
in the laboratory. Such is the expertise of these scientists that some British
marine biologists are engaged in consultancy work in other countries, including
China, the Philippines and the East Indies.

At the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, scientists are looking at the effects
of chemicals on marine life. ‘We are also researching the bacterial production
of phytoplankton, the physiology and biochemistry of marine animals and
how they react to foreign substances,’ says Peter Claridge, PML’s assistant
director. ‘Our marine biologists tend to work in multidisciplinary teams
with chemists, physicists, computer scientists and others. Not many are
just doing traditional biology. Half of PML’s scientists have first degrees,
the other half had PhDs when they were recruited. Most are now appointed
for a fixed term rather than for a career.’

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has laboratories at
Lowestoft, Burnham-on-Crouch, Conwy and White-haven with an overall budget
of £17 million, as part of MAFF’s Directorate of Fish Research. ‘About
a quarter of our 280 scientific staff in the directorate are marine biologists,’
says Mike Rolfe of the Lowestoft Laboratory. ‘We have two research ships
and they sail for 250 days each year, taking teams of between 6 and 12 scientists
on each expedition. Some may be away for two to three months.’

The role of the directorate is to research and monitor marine and freshwater
fish and shellfish and their environment and to advise the government on
such matters. It assesses the state of fish stocks so that policies can
be formulated for their management as well as for the protection of the
aquatic environment. ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵs study the effects of the discharge of radioactive
waste and the exploitation of offshore oil and gravels. The Scottish Office’s
Agriculture and Fisheries Department, including its Marine Laboratory in
Aberdeen, fulfils a similar function in Scotland.

The National Rivers Authority employs marine biologists in its pollution
monitoring work. The Anglian region of the authority has three marine scientists,
two of whom hold degrees in marine biology. They are involved in survey
programmes for estuaries and coastal waters, often working from a specialised
coastal survey vessel, as well as studying the flora and fauna in rivers.
‘Biological monitoring is important to us,’ says Dean Mahony of the NRA.
‘Different groups of aquatic animals and plants vary in their resistance
to pollution, so we can use this fact to assess the condition of the water
in a river.’

Marine biologists can assess recent events in a stretch of water by
carrying out biological studies of the living organisms within it. While
chemical analysis of an estuary can only tell you what is there at the
time, biological analysis shows how various species have reacted with time
to pollution. Some species are more resistant to certain chemicals than
others.

The Marine Biological Association is more than 100 years old, has 1200
members and publishes a quarterly journal. ‘Some of our members are employed
by the Department of the Environment, which has responsibility for monitoring
pollution in the North Sea,’ says Mike Whitfield, the association’s director.
‘Quite a few are now employed in fish farming.’

Fish farming is big business in Britain, especially in Scotland, where
production is running at more than 30 000 tonnes a year. Seaweeds and
oysters are now farmed as well as salmon and halibut. The farming of turbot
is expanding. Some of this work is designed to bring fish on to the hatching
stage so that they can be released into the sea and replenish depleted stocks.

‘In the early days there was a lot of demand for high-tech graduates,
such as marine biologists, to work at fish farms,’ says Richard Shelton
of the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory in Pitlochry. ‘Now the demand is
mostly for people who can look after fish.’

Other employers of marine biologists include the Water Research Centre
at Marlow, the water companies and power generators such as Nuclear Electric,
where Colin Taylor is assessing the effect of catching various species
in their water intake and of depositing warm effluent in the sea. Some
of these scientists are also employed by environmental consultants, including
the Fawley Marine Laboratory, Southampton.

For the aspiring marine biologist there are many degree courses in the
subject, notably at Stirling, Bangor, Swansea, Newcastle, St Andrews, Heriot-Watt
and Liverpool universities and Queen Mary and Westfield College London.
Others include studies of marine biology as part of other biological degrees.
The University of Liverpool maintains a research station at Port Erin on
the Isle of Man, which conducts marine biology research. The University
College of North Wales, Bangor and the University of St Andrews also offer
postgraduate courses.

For those who make the grade it is a fascinating job, and no doubt
constant contact with the marine environment exposes them to plenty of
fresh air and adventure. But there is strong competition for the vacancies
which arise, a challenge you must take on if you are committed to the idea
of a career in marine biology.

Neil Harris is deputy director of the University of London Careers Advisory
Service and head of the Careers Service at University College London.