Marine Research Expedition Mexico 2025

UPDATE: I completed my sponsored 1 mile swim (65 lengths) on 18/04/25 in 48 minutes!

I’m Laila, a university student, and for 2 weeks in June 2025, I will be volunteering as a research assistant at a marine research site in Mexico. My time at the site will include my completion of: a PADI Open Water scuba diving qualification; a theoretical Caribbean marine ecology course; and practical reef monitoring.

The data collected during the reef monitoring will be used by the local scientific community to complete short-term specialist projects that support academic publications and provide long-term datasets indicating the ecological health of the research sites. The Mexican site specialises in assessing the changes in the abundance of seagrass once a protected marine site was implemented and the impact tourist snorkel tours have on the health and behaviour of sea turtles as, in the past, stress induced by the increased number of tourists caused the sea turtles to develop tumours.

To generate funding for this expedition I’ll be doing a sponsored 1 mile swim during the week of the 14th of April 2025. This swim accounts for around 65 lengths of a 25m pool, which I aim to complete in 1 hour.

Any donation to aid my involvement in this expedition will be greatly appreciated and allow me to gain experience in practical techniques, receive vital teaching from experts in the marine research field and provide me with the life-changing opportunity to work on real-world management programmes alongside academic researchers.