12:12pm Wednesday 2nd July 2008
By Alison Masters
A RECENT study tour took students from Bromley College to Tenerife, where they helped to collect behavioural data about dolphin and whale communities.
The 13 budding conservationists, who are studying animal care at the college, spent a week with the Atlantic Whale Foundation, assisting with tasks such as photographing fins to identify different species.
Students were shown the effects of global warming on the migration of the mammals and the unfortunate consequences of hunting.
They toured for several days around locations of natural beauty in the Canary Islands, informing tourists about the organisation. The youngsters talked to people they met on their travels and encouraged them to sign petitions to help stop whale hunting.
Animal care tutor Anna Guyatt said: "Learning about conservation and data collection helped our students to become more conscious of their actions on the environment and it was really inspiring for them to see how an animal care qualification can lead to some really exciting alternative careers."
At the end of their trip, students had time to relax and reflect on their experiences after all the hard work and spent time hiking and swimming.
First diploma animal care student Maiya Thacker said: "The data collection we did was really fascinating. I had such a great time with the Atlantic Whale foundation, I didn't want to come back to England."
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