The National Trust for Scotland has announced the appointment of an adventurer and veterinary surgeon as ambassador, who has spoken of how her relationship with the sea has helped her mental health. 

Dr Cal Major says she has used being out in the sea as a positive tool for her mental health - and now she has taken on the role of ambassador to promote the work the National Trust for Scotland does to conserve Scotland’s marine areas and seas. 

“Developing personal connections to nature through first-hand experience of its powerful impact are a core part of my work in ocean conservation,” said the vet as she stood before a stunning backdrop of the Treshnish Isles, the latest area to come into the Trust’s care. 

Her belief in exposure to the ocean being key to a healthy mind led Dr Major to become an ocean advocate well before she started working with the National Trust for Scotland, setting up her own charity called Seaful, which runs projects taking inner city schoolchildren and Ukrainian refugees to idyllic locations around the UK to discover the benefits of the ocean for the mind.

As well as the personal benefits that can be taken from time in the ocean, Dr Major believes that once people are given a chance to appreciate the sea surrounding us, they will be more likely to want to take care of it, and support projects like the conservation work being done in places like the Treshnish Isles by the Trust. 

“Time in, on or by the water is proven to be beneficial for our mental health and wellbeing. In a world increasingly disconnected from nature, finding a personal and meaningful connection to our blue spaces has never been more crucial,” writes Dr Major of Seaful’s mission. 

Now the vet is taking on a new role, as ambassador at the National Trust for Scotland, where she is tasked with helping raise awareness and support of the conservation work done by the National Trust for Scotland for coastlines, marine environments and islands. 

Conservation teams at the National Trust for Scotland take care of stretches from Rockcliffe in Dumfries and Galloway to Unst in Iona. Under its care are also more than 400 islands and islets such as Iona, Staffa, Mingulay, Pabbay and Berneray, as well as the dual World Heritage marine site of St Kilda. 

Her first move as ambassador was a trip to the Treshnish Isles, the most recent land to come into the care of the National Trust for Scotland’s team. The Isles are a group of eight small, uninhabited islands to the west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides, home to significant seabird colonies including puffins as well as one fifth of the entire UK population of European storm petrels. 

Speaking on a Trust film of the trip, Dr Major talks through the history of the isles and displays her veterinary expertise of the various seabirds from kittiwakes to guillemots, and her enthusiasm for the Trust’s work is clear. 

Based in Ullapool, Dr Major spends much of her time on or in the sea off the Scottish coast. 

Part of this connection with the ocean was becoming the first person to stand-up paddle board the entire length of the UK, starting in Land’s End, Cornwall, and ending in the village of John O’Groats at the northern tip of the Scottish mainland.

The adventurer was then featured in an STV documentary series called Scotland: Ocean Nation, when she paddle boarded around the whole coast of Scotland. The 800-mile mission was inspired by COP26 being hosted in Glasgow and the programme follows Dr Major battling wind, waves and weariness across ten weeks to tell the story of Scotland’s waters and its roles in the climate and biodiversity crises. 

She is also the founder of charity Seaful which encourages people to ‘be seaful’ - which is to help people reconnect with the ocean, discover the mental health benefits Dr Major has found, and nurture the act of looking after natural spaces.

The charity runs projects such as ‘Vitamin Sea TV’, a collection of educational films it has produced on Scotland’s seas, and ‘Ocean Citizens’, which empowers individuals and communities to become ocean advocates. 

The Herald:

Ambassadors are volunteers, promoting the Trust’s work out of genuine interest and passion, and do not play an operational or governance role within the organisation.

Dr Major said: “I'm a proud supporter of the National Trust for Scotland and I am beyond delighted to have been asked to be an ambassador for them and the work they do.  

“It feels like such a privilege to be part of a community of people who care just as much as I do about Scotland's wildlife and heritage. Developing personal connections to nature through first-hand experiences of its powerful impact are a core part of my work in ocean conservation. 

“I hope that through my love of the sea, I can help the National Trust for Scotland to do even more to protect these special places and to inspire more people to support the work they do, for the love of Scotland.” 

Read more: National Trust for Scotland archaeology: 30 years of discovery

Chief Executive Philip Long OBE said: “Scotland’s seas and marine life are facing major challenges as the impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises are becoming ever more evident and it is so important that we speak up for our heritage that doesn’t have a voice. Cal’s love of Scotland’s seas and our nation’s environment comes through in all she does. In her new role, we know she will speak passionately about Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage and help our charity to gain even greater support for our work to protect and share it all with everyone.”