Stephen Marsh, Bsc
Advisor

Stephen’s interest in whales and dolphins began with quite a negative experience. In 1989 whilst in business in Vancouver, British Columbia visited the aquarium and was horrified to see the orcas and beluga whales imprisoned there. He immediately made a pact with himself to become more involved in cetacean conservation and from then on has opposed the captive industry.

In 2003, after decades working in advertising and marketing, Stephen closed his advertising agency and   began consulting for human and animal welfare charities.   In 2007 he began working for the whale and dolphin charity  Organisation Cetacea, better known as ORCA.  His task was to rejuvenate the charity’s fortunes over a three-year period, creating a robust platform from which the charity could grow. At the end of the contract Stephen was invited  to join ORCA's board and served as a Trustee and Vice Chair for six years, with a particular focus on public interactions and marketing. He also continued to run  Marine Mammal Surveyor training courses for the charity as well as leading whale watching trips for them in the Bay of Biscay and acting as an ORCA Wildlife Officer on cruise ships.

In 2010 after his time at ORCA, Stephen was invited to head up the operations of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), a charity he had joined in 2002 as a volunteer, becoming one of the first Advanced Marine Mammal Medics in 2005.  Once he’d joined the staff, his day job involved working closely with the charity’s team of 2,800 volunteers around the UK, rescuing whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and turtles, as well as interacting with other NGOs and agencies.  Stephen has run BDMLR rescue courses in the UK, UAE, Kenya and The Gambia.  Sam Lipman, who had been a volunteer since 2007, approached Stephen with an idea to create a focal point for information about orca around the world, whether captive or wild.  British Divers Marine Rescue agreed to be the umbrella organisation and Orca Aware was born.
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In 2015 Stephen was invited to take BDMLR into the Dolphinaria-Free Europe   coalition by Sam, who was their chair.  He served as Rescue & Care Coordinator for three years for the organisation and is now an independent member.

Whilst working with and for charities, Stephen sat on a number of UK and international governmental, military and charity conservation committees.  These included the  Marine Management Organisation's marine wildlife crime enforcement unit, the MoD’s Underwater Sound Forum (now DEFRA’s Underwater Sound Forum), the Marine Animal Rescue Coalition, Wildlife and Countryside Link, and as acting as an observer at ​ASCOBANS.  As well as giving public talks about wildlife around the world, he has lectured on marine animal welfare, rescue and whale and dolphin population studies at a number of universities, as well as the Royal Veterinary College ad for the Fire and Rescue Services and the RSPCA. 
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Having retired from BDMLR in 2018, Stephen now travels the world giving lectures on wildlife, ecology and conservation to cruise guests whilst retaining strong links within the cetacean study and rescue community.

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