Katie Macfarlane | Wee Blue Dot 🌍

Devastated to hear about the loss of this wonderful human. I saw Doug just over two weeks ago after he entertained audiences at the museum. We talked about his trip to Nepal, put the world to right, sat in the sunshine in Edinburgh, and generally had a good old giggle. Spending the past four years working with him across the UK has been one of the highlights of my career. We bonded over tartan troosers and our cheeky "Scottishness" that first meeting, and I was lucky to call him a friend for the rest. I know that - being the humble man that he was - he would have been astounded at the outpouring of love across the world today ❤️ A huge loss to the planet and its wildlife...... but oh, how lucky were we to exist at the same time as @dougallancamera ? ❤️‍🩹🌍🌊🐋 #dougallan @josarsbymanagement @coathanger_productions 📷 @billybarraclough & @haicoo_media

✨️ Happy 2026, lovely people!✨️ Here's to more beautiful times in nature with good friends 🩵🌊 . . . . (This was sunrise and temperatures in the negative. Sauna was the reward!)

✨ 2025, thank you for all the glimmers!✨ Not normally one to write an essay on the past 365 days (after all, we should celebrate every day, all year round!) but there were some fun, outstanding, and joyful moments in 2025 professionally.... ❤️ I got to meet over 30 of our @mcs_uk #YouthOceanNetwork (YON) in person at events, some of whom I'd only met virtually for the past few years. You really are amazing people and I'm so thankful to work with you and call you friends 🫶 🧡 We ran our very first free youth residential for 10 young people on the Isle of Cumbrae on the west coast of Scotland. Opportunities like this are essential in building that nature connection 🐋 (p.s. we saw dolphins every day!!) 💛 YON member Oliver and I were lucky enough to attend the Kings Garden Party at Buckingham Palace with colleagues and FatFace partners 💚 I ran several free youth events across England, Wales and Scotland, and look forward to more in 2026! 💙 Two of our young people got a free trip of a lifetime on board @hwdt_org 's research vessel, #Silurian 🩵 We hosted our first ever Youth Engagement internship in Scotland providing a young adult with a step in to the marine conservation sector 💜 I was kindly invited to be guest speaker at various events throughout the year, discussing my career so far and our connection to #bluespaces (thanks Bangor University and #KendalMountainFestival) ❤️ and last but not least - two YON members in North Wales got to meet, chat, and display our community art piece to HRH The Prince of Wales Happy Hogmanay/Slàinte mhath dhuibh uile/Guid New Year when it comes! 💫 Our Youth Engagement work in Scotland is funded, with thanks, by The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland #YoungStart programme. 📷 Haicoo Media, Joseph Hadley, Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust, HRH press office

Winter solstice sunset at Torhouse stone circle ✨️ (I'm just interested in the archaeology/history... these ancient folks sure knew some cool stuff!) "The Torhouse Stone Circle in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, is a well-preserved Bronze Age site with 19 granite boulders arranged in a circle, featuring three central stones known as "King Gauldus's Tomb". This remarkably complete circle is unusual for Southern Scotland." #wintersolstice #solstice #stonecircle #Scotland #weebluedot

✨️Happy Winter Solstice ✨️ The shortest day, the longest night... ❄️🌌☀️ I always look forward to this day - I find the winters in Scotland so hard. However, our bodies and minds are meant to take it slow over the darker months. Rest, recuperate, and follow the season. Make sure and move in to 2026 gently and give yourself the rest you deserve. "May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night... that each day forward is blessed with more light." – Unknown.  #winter #wintersolstice #wintersolstice2025 #weebluedot

It was great to be invited along to @kendalmountainfestival last weekend to join Rob from @oceanographic_mag for one of their "Ocean Talks" in partnership with @finisterre . We chatted all about connection to the blue spaces, youth empowerment and Ocean Literacy across the UK. There was a great atmosphere around Basecamp and the whole of Kendal. It was an added bonus to catch @aldokane 's talk about his series, The Wild Ones, and say hello afterwards 🐯 🐋 🦏 A fun-filled weekend of what I love most - different layers of environmental conservation and lovely engaged people! If you love the ocean, photography and inspiring stories, check out Oceanographic magazine 👇 @oceanographic_mag Learn more about my work, and the work of my wider team at Marine Conservation Society, here - @mcs_uk 💙 📷 Ben/Oceanographic Magazine & my own

Living rurally is worth it when you can pop out for sights this this at the end of the day 🌞☺️ 📍 A very cold Scotland

📍Loch an Eilein 🌳👇🤓 A remnant of the Caledonian - the ancient temperate forest of Scotland. "The Scots pines of the Caledonian Forest are directly descended from the first pines to arrive in Scotland following the Late Glacial; arriving about 7000 BCE. The forest reached its maximum extent about 5000 BC, after which the Scottish climate became wetter and windier. This changed climate reduced the extent of the forest significantly by 2000 BC. From that date, human actions (including the grazing effects of sheep and deer) reduced it to its current extent. The forest exists as 35 remnants, as authenticated by Steven & Carlisle (1959)[1] (or 84 remnants, including later subjective subdivisions of the 35) covering about 180 square kilometres (69 sq mi) or 18,000 hectares (44,000 acres). The Scots pines of these remnants are, by definition, directly descended from the first pines to arrive in Scotland following the ice age. These remnants have adapted genetically to different Scottish environments, and as such, are globally unique; their ecological characteristics form an unbroken, 9000-year chain of natural evolution with a distinct variety of soils, vegetation, and animals." Wiki

Almost 300 young people and community members joined us in Bangor in November for a screening of #DavidAttenboroughs #Ocean documentary. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🌊 A visual masterpiece. Emotional, thought provoking and beautiful. Thank you @reviveourocean 📍Bangor, Wales

Autumn was nice 🍄🍁 📍Scotland

It's great to have some many friends who live in amazing places across the planet. Fun to visit them when/if I can! 💙🇮🇸❄️ (Scroll to the end to see the view I had from the plane 🤩) 📍Iceland winter, 2025

First of my @mcs_uk #greatbritishbeachclean events last weekend on my childhood beach in rural Galloway 💙🌊 6kg of litter gathered (mostly microplastic) by 11 lovely local volunteers. In our short 45 minutes cleaning our 100m stretch, we gathered: • 76 bottle caps/lids • 57 pieces of angling fishing line • 101 fishing net pieces • 154 pieces of packets (crisps, sweets etc) • Almost 200 plastic fragments • 108 rubber pieces from lobster creels • 27 plastic cotton bud sticks • & much more.. Sunday’s clean was part of our Great British Beach Clean – a week in collaboration with the #InternationalCoastalCleanUp run by @oceanconservancy . Every single piece of data gathered is utilised to create our State of Beaches report each year and contributes to the wider global ICCU research on marine litter. This helps us campaign for change. You still have time to join (or run your own!) beach clean before Sunday 28th Sept! You can read more on our socials @mcs_uk