I'm a marine advocacy officer focused on policy development and delivery within the North Sea area of the UK. Part of my role focuses on research and evidence collection to support better management of the marine environment. This includes the use of citizen science projects which can, alongside providing important data, also foster greater stewardship of local coastal and marine wildlife and habitats within communities and individuals. Having recently set up a partnership project to strengthen data collection for cetaceans along the English North Sea coastline, I wanted to better understand new innovative approaches to marine mammal monitoring using citizen science.