Defender of the Ocean
When you’re trying to conserve, protect and understand the endangered dolphin and whale populations along the remote Scottish coastline, only a Defender will do
The Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit carry out some conservation work on their Defender
“What followed was more than a decade of punishing work”
Our oceans and the precious creatures that live within them are under threat like never before. Please read the next sentence in your best David Attenborough voice: Pollution, illegal fishing, poaching, coastal development and ocean warming are all major contributing factors to this rather dire situation.
We all need to stand up for the ocean because it can’t defend itself against the excesses of humanity. One charity that is doing exactly that, and with a fair amount of success, is the Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit (CRRU) in northeast Scotland. For those (like me) who didn’t know what the word Cetacean means, it’s an order of marine mammals which includes dolphins, porpoises and whales. Thanks, Google.
To find out more about the work of the CRRU and the recently-restored Defender 110 that they use to do it in, I’ve travelled to their HQ in the quaint Aberdeenshire village of Gardenstown. The village was built into the red sandstone cliffs that now seem to almost engulf it. It’s a compact place and it feels as if the houses have been built on top of each other. According to the Rough Guide of 2016, Gardenstown is number 11 on their list of the UK’S Top 30 seaside towns.
To get to where I’m going I have to make my way along the village’s narrow harbour wall. I know that I am in the right place when I see the black, shiny 2004 Defender 110 of the CRRU. Despite the fact that it was initially a new purchase for the charity, what followed was more than a decade of punishing work along the unforgiving Scottish coastline.
The Defender 110 has only just returned north after several weeks down south, where it enjoyed a full rebuild and engine return by Ben Digby- Clarke and his team at TMD Tuning in East Sussex.
I’m treated to a fresh blast of cold sea air as I disembark; how I love being along the coast. I grew up in a little village on the west coast of South Africa, so I feel right at home in small fishing villages, especially on wet and windy days.
I’m met by Dr Kevin Robinson, the director (and founder) of the CRRU. Kevin has longish blond hair and would not look out of place on the cover of Zigzag, the surfing magazine, or Bondi beach. He welcomes me with a firm handshake. Also with him is Richard Atkinson, who is on the charity’s Board of Governors. In 2002, Richard did a solo paddle around the coast of the UK, so he’s obviously a man who loves the ocean, as well as a tough physical challenge.
The charity had previously used an old 300Tdi Discovery as transport and so I ask Kevin why they decided to purchase a new Defender back in 2004...
“I walked into a dealership with some of our volunteers and sat in a Defender to see what it was like,” he says. “It was one of those lightbulb moments for the CRRU when we realised that we could fit a stranded or sick dolphin into the back of one. Also it had nine seats so we could carry enough folk.”
The CRRU started out life in 1997 as just the Cetacean Research Unit while doing a mark-recapture study of the bottlenose dolphins in the nearby Spey Bay, but things quickly progressed from there to where they are today. Kevin explains: “Essentially we have three wings to the charity: whale and dolphin research, marine educational outreach and wildlife rescue.
“The results of our research feed the educational side of things and over the years we have gained a lot of knowledge about these enigmatic sentinel animals. While we might be academic researchers, education and training are important to us. We have an open-door policy here and want others to contribute and experience what we do.”
Each year during the summer about 100 volunteers join the CRRU team to do one of the several two-week
courses run by the charity. They are taught to work in a team and learn new skills such as boatmanship, photography and the field methods used by marine mammal scientists. At the moment, volunteers pay around £1,000 for the two weeks and this includes training, food, accommodation, equipment, life skills and a rather special and unique experience. The volunteers provide the charity with much-needed man/ woman power to collate their valuable research data. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Last year the CRRU managed to obtain grant funding for eight places on their volunteer programme for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. One of their former grant funding participants, a lad from a council estate in South Shields, has since gone on to complete his Masters degree at Newcastle University - a sure indicator that the volunteer programme is a very good thing.
Such estimable work is probably why the CRRU is today one of the top UK projects supported by the Born Free Foundation, an organisation perhaps better known for its efforts with wildlife in Africa. How great to see that they are supporting this important local research, study and rescue efforts. As we all know, Land Rover has been a long-term supporter of the Born Free Foundation.
Back to the Defender. When responding to a stranded animal or an emergency, speed of response and access to a casualty are the two most critical factors for a successful outcome. Kevin explains: “If you have a Land Rover you can carry the necessary people and the gear to get almost anywhere. Remember, we are dealing with large animals that tend to suffocate under their own weights so time is of
the essence. Dolphins tend to get stranded in often difficultto-access places like the bottom of a cliff and so the goanywhere ability of the Defender is perfect for getting us there. That’s one reason why we have become very attached to it.”
As dolphins and whales are fairly sizeable creatures the equipment needed to refloat or handle a patient is also fairly big, and the Defender therefore often needs to tow a trailer full of rescue gear. Things don’t always go according to plan, as Kevin once discovered, but admits that without it they would not be able to do this life-saving work.
“It’s the best vehicle for the type of work we do here,” he says. “I have rolled it in the sand dunes and still managed to drive away. There aren’t many vehicles that could take that sort of abuse.
“We have all the gear to get ourselves out of any situation, including a heavy-duty winch, anchors and straps. After purchasing the Defender in 2004 we significantly increased our success level when it came to strandings.
“We do get into trouble from time to time but we can usually get ourselves out too. Our Defender has even been successfully used to get a live-stranded animal back into the water.”
My visit is at the same time of the year when one expects to see basking sharks and sunfish. The waters here are home to perhaps the richest whale and dolphin populations in western Europe, which is why the CRRU are based here, of course. So if a whale or dolphin stranding is going to happen somewhere along the UK’S coastline, the chances are it might be near here.
I asked Kevin why these wonderful creatures prefer this specific area. He explains: “The incredible animals that we
get here are thanks to a very productive heterogeneous ecosystem, which is fuelled by the Arctic and Gulf streams alike. These productive local clockwise movements of currents have layers of warm and cold water. Add into the mix the increase in the slope of the seabed and it creates upwellings that are just pumping with all types of marine life.”
For over ten years the CRRU Defender 110 loyally did what was expected of it. Towing trailers, launching boats and carrying people, equipment and medical supplies to rescue call-outs around the clock. But anyone who has ever been to this part of Scotland will tell you that it can be a wet, windy and cold environment, laden with salty sea air - harsh conditions under which a Defender normally thrives. But after a decade of use, the Defender was starting to look a little tired and worse for wear. It was decision time. Get a new one or upcycle the old one? As a marine conservation charity, they opted for the latter.
Kevin offers some insight into that decision: “Let’s face it, the Td5 engine is the best motor they ever put into a Defender; the doors might fall off over time, but the engine is never going to die.”
Kevin did some research on who to use for the work on their Defender for the upcycling work and after several recommendations decided to go with TMD in East Hoathly. The initial plan was just to fix a few bits and do a light refurb but as the staff at TMD began to take the Defender apart they soon realised that it would require a full rebuild. The bulkhead and floor would have to be replaced, the chassis stripped and treated, and a new radiator and air-con unit needed.
Kevin remembers the day they informed him of their findings. “We never knew that it was in such a bad condition but as Ben and his team took it apart they sent us pictures of the corrosion. Obviously it was a LOT worse than we thought.”
Kevin would receive regular updates from Ben and he was consulted when it came to the big decisions.“ben wanted to repaint the Defender in a deep sea blue but the CRRU boat is black and so we told him that it just had to be black. It was wonderful to see all the updates, repairs and the new upgrades being added. After the paint job it looked like a new vehicle. Ben and his team have done such an outstanding job with the vehicle.”
Ben and TMD pretty much dropped their labour costs from the bill and the job cost a lot less than buying a new 4x4. It has to be one of the best examples of a Land Rover Defender owned by ANY charity. Kevin agrees: “I have to admit that it does look a little bit sexy and it has been a little over-pimped for what we do, but we are very happy with it nonetheless.”
While doing the photoshoot with the Defender I realise that the charity now has something that is probably better than when it first left the factory in 2004. Furthermore, it has been customised to carry-out very specialised work that this marine charity does. It has enough lighting to turn the Scottish night into day… very useful if you’re trying to locate a stranded dolphin on an expansive beach in pitch black darkness.
It more than ticks all the boxes. Put simply, the CRRU would never be able to carry-out their vital research and rescue work in Scotland so well without this Defender. Thanks to TMD Tuning for helping to make that happen.