Challenging Habitat

Mauricio is one of those multi-talented young people who just excel at whatever they do – whether that’s coaching children on Capoeira skills, analytical chemistry, working as corporate receptionist or marine biology! He has volunteered as Scientist in Residence on the sail training tall ship Pelican of London and has become one of her ambassadors.

Here, Mauricio writes a guest blog for Challenging Habitat that showcases two separate worlds of science communication: with fellow scientists and with the public. The latter is becoming increasingly important as much of what scientists do is funded by the public purse – i.e. you and me – and taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent.

So, whoever you are, I invite you to dive into Mau’s world of marine biology – case study Australia’s Super Corals!

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The ROV is deployed and we’re watching the seabed habitat in real time. Seaweed…a crab…a glimpse of a fish… What if we could find out what animals are actually living in the sea beneath the waves?

We can and we did!

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I’ve written about Antarctic krill before, just around World Krill Day in 2022, and three years on, the international community is not much closer to protecting krill for krill’s sake, for ecosystem’s sake, for climate regulation‘s and all of our sake…

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To me, life is about curiosity and learning and growing. I love talking and working with people who have different backgrounds and expertises, because there is always the potential for a surprise, a fact, a story, a new understanding …

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Let’s spell it out: cleaning communal toilets, sharing a dormitory with strangers, travel sickness, washing up for 46 people and standing in the wind and rain for hours on end are not common entries on people’s lists of favourite activities.

Yet 27 young people chose to do just that for a chance to live on ‘planet Pelican‘ for a while and experience all the good stuff that comes with it…

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Two years ago, I read an article in Nature News called “Catastrophic change looms as Earth nears climate ‘tipping points’[1], referring to the Global Tipping Points Report 2023, the article warned about Arctic and Antarctic ice, coral reefs and other Earth system poised to cross thresholds in their decline that are irreversible and that threaten the stability of the Earth system as we know it.

Now ‘Team Earth’ have crossed the first of around 20 climate change tipping points [2]: the international group of scientists working on the Global Tipping Points Report 2025 [3] suggest that this year’s extent of coral bleaching and death mark Earth’s first climate tipping point being reached.

The foreword to the report by André Aranha Correa do Lago, President Designate of COP30, talks of urgency and possibility [3].

So, what’s next?

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Growing (up) is all about exploring and once more, sail training on board the tall ship Pelican of London proved to be an excellent vehicle for both, exploring self and the world and finding out how we deal with challenges along the way …

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When, in May 2025, the UK Met Office reported that “Northwest European waters are currently experiencing an extreme marine heatwave“, the yachting community in Plymouth had been talking about worsening fouling on their boats for weeks.

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I’ve just spent 10 days on Pelican of London and among other things, deployed my ROV among the Western Isles of Scotland. It’s been a challenge, to say the least, for my blueye Pioneer, as ‘slack water’ appears to be a concept that doesn’t exist in this part of the ocean. Let’s find out…

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