Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Looking out for marine mammals
For Trini Church, going to work each day is a dream, particularly when her Westshore office has one of the best views in town.
Trini is a marine mammal observer with Downer HEB JV, who are delivering main construction works for the Waitohi Picton Ferry Precinct Redevelopment.
Recently, the team started construction of a temporary jetty at Westshore
(on the Bluebridge side of the harbour, within Port Marlborough land).
Barges will berth at the jetty and have materials loaded onto them for transportation to the main wharf construction site.
The jetty structure includes 12 piles, which is where Trini’s role as a marine mammal observer comes into action.
Trini keeps a watchful eye on Waitohi Picton Harbour for marine mammals during piling, to ensure they don’t come too close. If she spots any whales, dolphins or seals, she measures their distance from the piling, and if they do come too close piling stops. Once they have moved outside of the safe zone, Trini monitors for 30 minutes to check they don’t re-enter, before piling starts again.
As part of marine mammal observation training Trini undertook with Blue Planet Marine, Trini has been taught how to identify different species at a distance, and signs, such as movements in water, to look out for. Her observations start half an hour before piling.
“I have really good binoculars that can also measure distance, so if I spot a marine mammal, I can quickly work out how far away it is,” explains Trini.
At the end of a day’s piling, Trini continues to watch for marine mammals for half an hour, to record their locations and behaviour.
“I love my job. I love watching the way marine mammals move, their colours and forms, and their playful interactions. It’s important we make sure we do all we can to look after the marine mammals, as we are working in their environment,” she says. Marine mammal observing is one of several measures being taken to minimise the impacts of piling on marine mammals. Divers have placed hydrophones (underwater microphones) to monitor noise and vibrations, and a bubble curtain is installed in the water that dampens and absorbs piling sounds to protect marine mammals and other sea life.