Room: 325 Westbury Mount         Phone: 01248 383936

E-mail: t.whitton@bangor.ac.uk

Web: Google Scholar, ORCID

Overview

I am marine ecologist with a particular interest in how species’ distributions and behaviour are driven by the environment and predators, with a recent focus on how human activities may shape and change these interactions (fishing activities, manmade structures and renewable energy devices). My research has spanned intertidal and subtidal benthic systems to pelagic ecology. My research methods involve both laboratory and field experiments, but I am often using research vessels to take measurements and collect samples at sea.  

Current Research

My current research is with Prof Jan Hiddink investigating the potential impact of bottom fishing on benthic systems, which is often in collaboration with the fishing sector. Current work is specifically on bottom fishing effects on blue carbon. There is much uncertainty about the how towed bottom fishing may affect blue carbon sequestration across different seabed types and fishing gear. We have sought to investigate this experimentally by sampling from the RV Prince Madog areas that have been fished to different intensities by different gear types. Our work seeks to help better inform any policy that may seek to manage fishing -blue carbon interactions.

Recent research highlights

Pelagic fish and tidal energy devices

To understand how the vertical distribution of small pelagic fish may change the likelihood of interactions with marine renewable devices and top-predators, I led a study to measure sprat schools and physical processes that drive their behaviour. I used fisheries acoustics from the RV Prince Madog and a bottom moored ASL AZFP and Simrad WBAT to investigate the depths that small pelagic fish are using in high current areas and how this changes over temporal scales of hours to months. Read the findings here and here

Marine life on shipwrecks

I led a section of work to investigate how marine life colonises and uses man-made structures. Specifically shipwrecks in areas of high tidal currents. See here for information.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any enquires about my research.

Research Themes: Marine Ecology Blue carbon Fishing Renewable energy

  • PhD: Processes controlling spatial and temporal variations in cockle Cerastoderma edule (L.) abundance and distribution
    2013
  • MSc: Marine Environmental Protection
    2010
  • BSc: Marine Biology
    2008

2024

2023

2022

2021

  • PublishedCollecting quality echosounder data in inclement weather
    Jech, M., Schaber, M., ox, M., Escobar-Flores, P., Gastauer, S., Haris, K., Horne, J., Jarvis, T., Ladroit, Y., O'Driscoll, R., Pederson, G., Peña, M., Ryan, T., Sakinan, S., Thomas, R., Viehman, H., Wall, C. & Whitton, T., 1 Dec 2021, ICES Cooperative Research Report. Anderson, E. (ed.). International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Vol. 352. 108 p.
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Other chapter contribution › peer-review

2020

2016

2015

2012

2023

2022

2020

  • Vertical distribution of small pelagic fish: drivers and implications for assessing environmental interactions of tidal stream projects

    Increases in the generation of electricity using marine renewable energy (MRE) are planned globally, with Wales potentially playing a key role in the MRE industry, including hosting the world’s first deployment of a utility scale tidal kite off the coast of Anglesey by Minesto UK Ltd. Assessment and understanding of the environmental impacts of MRE devices and developments are urgently needed, but remain challenging due to diverse development locations, device designs and the complexities of studying top predators, which are a focus of many impact assessments.We present findings from the SEACAMS2 project focused on Minesto’s Holyhead Deep development off North Wales, where multi-disciplinary instrument moorings have been used assess potential overlap of small pelagic fish with planned operational devices and the driving process for any overlap. Predictable variation in depths reached by fish schools during vertical migrations were observed, with clear links to physical processes found, and so potential overlap with a tidal kite could be calculated.By understanding overlap in space and time between MRE devices and prey species of top predators such as small pelagic fish, uncertainty of impacts can be reduced. Current work to understand fish behaviour with an actively deployed MRE kite and other sub-sea structures will also be introduced.

    23 Apr 2020

    Links:

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)

2019

2018

2017

2016