Alexa Kershaw

Wildlife Guide and Marine Mammal Ecologist

Alexa currently works as a freelance wildlife guide and researcher. She  completed an MSc in Ecological Management at Imperial College, London, before going to South Africa to work for the National Parks Board as Assistant Ecologist.  She then spent 18 months travelling alone through Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Southeast Asia.  During this time she was involved in a number of cetacean research projects including photo-id of cetaceans in South Africa, an aerial survey of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and photo-id of Hector’s dolphins in New Zealand.  Since her return to the UK, she worked as a researcher on an EU-funded porpoise project on the Isle of Mull and subsequently crewed on IFAW’s research vessel, Song of the Whale, conducting a visual and acoustic survey of the Baltic Sea.  More recently she  worked as Sightings Officer for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, and this year co-ordinated the first West Coast Whale Festival in Scotland.  For the last four years she has worked as a specialist wildlife guide for Sea Life Surveys on the Isle of Mull. She has also guided for Discover the World, a major tour company, working in Scotland, Iceland and South Africa.

Through her studies and eight years in the field, she has developed an extensive knowledge of cetacean biology and ecology and regularly gives public talks.  She has also gained experience in zodiac driving, research techniques and is a keen wildlife photographer.

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