Marine Courses

1. What qualifications would you expect someone to enter the marine animal sector with?

Qualifications are not always essential but strongly preferred in this competitive industry. Marine biology at degree level is preferred but many other subjects lend themselves to the issues covered by the industry. Good examples include marine zoology, conservation, ecology, environmental biology and animal management to name a few.

2. What routes of progression are there within the industry and what are the requirements for this?

Travel is essential to want to progress in this industry. A good attitude and eagerness to stay up to date with ever changing research is a must.

3.  What are common areas/ gaps that people do not have training or qualifications in when applying for positions which you would require?

Always experience. A lot more candidates have a theoretical qualification without credible experience. Ideally 1 year experience in total is preferred.

4. What basic advice is missing for when people are wanting to come into the industry?

It is long hours for  low pay. Lots of people expect to find their fortune and clock off at 5pm when both are merely a luxury in this industry!

We offer practical training as part of our Marine Animal Rescue Diploma course and this gives students the opportunity to learn more about seal, dolphin and whale rescue. The practical Marine Mammal Medic Training is run by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Charity (BDMLR) at venues around the country. Medic Cards and ID badges are issued at the end of the course and volunteers are able to have their details added to the BDMLR database to be contacted to assist with marine animal rescues as volunteers.

At Animal Jobs Direct, we offer several Accredited Marine Courses.

Working with marine animals is a popular choice for many people and there are various career options in this sector, especially for those who have  undertaken a marine course. Many roles working with marine animals are hands-on and involve working in a marine environment. Marine animal jobs include: Marine and Freshwater Biologist, Marine Animal Rescue Officer, Aquarist, Herpetologist, Marine Veterinary and Naturalist. Jobs in these roles include: Monitoring habitats and populations, rehabilitation of sick or injured marine life, rescue of marine animals from disasters, conducting surveys and more.

Most jobs working with marine animals require candidates to be physically fit and competent at swimming. Some marine animal careers require staff to live on site.

There are some marine animal careers that aren’t hands-on with animals but most involve working in a practical way in marine animal environments.

These accredited distance learning courses are for students who are looking for a marine animal career. All our online courses are offered to students worldwide and are studied at the learner’s own pace and our Diploma courses take an average of 6 months to complete.

We are frequently contacted by people who want to work as ‘dolphin trainers’ (Marine Mammal Trainer). We haven’t included this career in our Working with Animals ebook nor on our website as we are against keeping animals in captivity for entertainment. However, we do acknowledge that until legislation prevents the capture and keeping of wild animals, those animals in captivity are reliant on compassionate and well trained carers who are able to provide high levels of stimulation in order to prevent boredom and the associated problems.