Philip graduated from University College Cardiff in 1984 with a degree in zoology. After a successful career as a city head-hunter he now many years later finds himself drawn back to his first love, that of the natural world. He has travelled extensively and taken part in many arduous expeditions, including traversing the Sahara Desert north to south, mountain biking across Iceland and has climbed some of the worlds most remote mountains. In the late 1980s he climbed extensively in the Hoggar Mountains, the Air Mountains and climbed several of the highest peaks in the Tibesti range in Chad. He has spent months in the Arctic and High Arctic and has recently advised the Government of Sierra Leone on how to utilise the country's beautiful assets of fauna and flora for the development of high end tourism. Having lived for 6 years in Andorra with his wife and family he was drawn to a personal study as to obvious environmental changes attributed to Mans' influence, literally watching in the high Pyrenees glaciers melt and retreat over a very short period of time.

In his lectures on selected topics of marine biology, he emphasizes the enormity of environmental stresses on biological systems and holds a fascination at the robustness of life on this planet to change and adapt when faced with severe environmental difficulties. Philip has also appeared as a guest on Saturday Live with Niki Bedi and the Reverend Richard Coles. He was asked to recant a mountaineering adventure in the late 1980's, when he and 2 others spent 9 days surviving on Mont Blanc.

Philip lectures on Sharks ancient and modern, whales and dolphins, deadly sea animals, killer whales and their prime apex hunter status and immediate threats to the marine ecosystem. In February 2023 Philip worked with the Fred Olsen team on the Balmoral, lecturing on a variety of topics including a very well received lecture on penguins, for Fred Olsen's inaugural trip to the Antartic. Philip has been lecturing on cruise ships since January 2015 across P&O, Cunard, Marella, Fred Olsen and Saga.

Drawing on a rich and diverse knowledge, Philip lectures on a variety of topics relating to the natural world. This ranges from recently discovered marine organisms, to the larger well known sharks and whales. He places special emphasis on relating his talks to the backdrop of ever increasing environmental challenges, including loss of habitat, a warming planet due to the phenomenon of global warming and tries to explain how climate change is having an immediate effect on not only human existence but the populations of threatened members of the animal and plant kingdom. He keeps his talks up to date and relies on an analysis of the latest scientific papers and his contacts with some of the world's leading environmental and zoological scientists. He shares his deep concerns that we are certainly in the waiting room of unprecedented destructive change to our global natural balances, but tries to deliver the message that we might not be too late in mitigating these destructive processes. Philip has a total of 20 talks all delivered without the use of notes.

1. Sharks- ancient and modern biological marvels.
How they have adapted over 300 million years.

2. Kings of the ocean.
The Sperm Whale or the Orca?

3. Ocean creatures from another world.
A lecture on some of the strangest animals living in the ocean depths.

4. Ancient Marine monsters.
A look at some of the most remarkable ancient creatures which inhabited our planet millions of years ago.

5. Ocean animals you would not wish to meet.
A lecture on some of the deadliest ocean dwellers that can kill humans in minutes or deliver life threatening warnings.

6. Can our oceans survive us?
A lecture on the impact of Human Beings on our sensitive ocean biology and what the future might hold for marine ecology.

7. Great pioneers in the discovery and exploration of the world's oceans.
From the ancient Greeks to Jacques Cousteau.

8. The importance of tropical rain forests to life on Earth.
As we are sailing close to the central American and Amazonian rain forests, this talk will focus on the importance of these remarkable ecosystems to maintaining global weather and climate patterns. How do these remote and vast forests help regulate climatic systems thousands of miles away. We’ll also look at the urgency to preserve the rain forests for the survival of humanity and the slowing of global warming, in addition to exploring species of animals and plants vital for the development of new drugs and medical understanding.

9. Insects of the Amazon and Central American jungles
In this talk we will encounter a variety of insects which help maintain the eco systems and food chains of these immense forest regions. We’ll discuss ants with the deadliest stings on the planet, used in painful indigenous people’s initiation rites. And beetles that can lift 900 times their own weight. Also come and meet the world’s most poisonous spider, its aggressive stance indicating its spoiling for a fight (to the death!) This talk might just produce nightmares.

10. The Great Barrier Reef and other endangered tropical reef systems.
This is a talk about the world’s greatest reef system and the fragility of its existence. How long can this 40 million year old reef system survive as it is confronted by human induced pressures. Ocean acidity and warming ocean temperatures are just some of the subjects we will take a look at. Also we will take a look at the unbelievable diversity of marine life contained within a structure that can be seen from space! And, we will look at what is being done to help with its preservation.

11. Dangerous Australian ocean creatures.
In addition to sharks, there are ocean dwellers so deadly that if you encounter them, you might not live to tell the tale. In this we will look at a variety of marine animals living in Australian waters that could be very harmful to humans. From deadly octopus to stinging snails and beautifully coloured creatures just waiting to be picked up. This will be quite a selection, and hopefully not put you off that swim.

12. Global warming and its deadly consequences
In this sobering talk, we will look at the latest thinking as to where we humans and the rest of life on our planet stand with a rapidly heating world. How will several degrees of extra heating affect our oceans, our ice caps and vulnerable human populations? We will look at the role of carbon dioxide, methane and the rapidly warming arctic regions, in terms of adverse changes which are now taking place. What can we do to prevent a calamitous outcome?

13. Humpback whales and Blue whales, lifestyles, migratory routes, breeding and calving grounds in the Pacific

14. The unique marine habitats of the Northern Californian coast and the Farallon Islands off San Francisco.

15. Marine creatures and unique animals of the Hawaiian Island chain.

16. Orca and Sperm Whales, the ocean's greatest hunters.

17. Ancient marine and terrestrial monsters.

18. Deadly sea creatures that you would not wish to meet.

19. The origin of life on Earth, latest thinking as to where life started.

20. The marvel of octopuses and the cephalopod family.

21. Creatures of the deep oceanic vents

22. The mysterious Komodo dragon.
In this lecture we will investigate the lifestyle of the world's largest and most powerful lizard. How come this docile, slow moving animal can attack and bring down a creature five times its weight? What is its apparent lust for raw meat and how is it able to smell its prey from three miles away? This is about as close to a dinosaur that the animal kingdom can give us and even more terrifying is the fact they hunt in packs. I'll give you many reasons why you wouldn't pitch a tent on Komodo Island!.

23. The Great Barrier Reef and other endangered tropical reef systems.
This is a talk about the world's greatest reef system and the fragility of its existence. How long can this 40 million year old reef system survive as it is confronted by human induced pressures. Ocean acidity and warming ocean temperatures are just some of the subjects we'll take a look at. Also, we'll take a look at the unbelievable diversity of marine life contained within a structure that can be seen from space! And we'll look at what is being done to help with its preservation.

24. Tropical Rain Forrest Ecosystems.
In this talk we will be covering the unique and remarkably diverse animal and plant communities contained within a typical tropical rain forest. We are in South America, and the Amazon Basin will be very much at the forefront of our minds. Tropical rain forests make up only about 6% of the surface area of the globe but contain up to half the Earth’s immense biodiversity. Let us discuss how species interact and how the self-contained systems within the jungle canopy help to drive a lot of important climatic functions which trap carbon and help reduce adverse, dramatic climate changes. We will look at the need to preserve this crucial function for the good of other regions of our planet and other life sustaining ecosystems.

25. Insects of the Amazon rain forest
We will take a look at an incredible variety of insects that rule the canopy floor and meet some very strange beasts indeed. From beetles that can lift 900 times their body weight, making them relatively the strongest animals on Earth, to ants that deliver a killer, agonising sting. We’ll meet those that degrade, those that chop and those that clean up, keeping the jungle floor a well-oiled machine that helps oxygenate and keeps the world breathing. We’ll examine the pecking order and the rules for basic survival within this fascinating and threatened environment. Insects rule OK.

26. Animals of the Andes and the South American deserts.
In this talk we will look at an interesting selection of animals that inhabit the high Andes and the scorching deserts that are never too far from our ship.
What sort of beasts live in the second highest mountain range on Earth and a thousand-mile strip where in some parts it hasn’t rained for over two hundred years? Come and meet the Andean Condor, very much at home at 6000 metres, Andean Mountain cats and Alpacas. Marvel at wild desert foxes basking in 45 degrees Celsius and deadly scorpions sheltering in the relative cool of baking arid rocks. The Andes and the Atacama, in this section of South America, you are either in one or the other!

27. The climate of the Antarctic and its hold on us
In this talk we will investigate the importance of the Antarctic in terms of its role in governing the Earth’s climatic systems. How old is the Antarctic and how important is it in helping to stabilise our global climate? As things may inevitably change, what effects will change in the temperatures and climate of the Antarctic have on our globe and the humans that inhabit it? It’s a truly remote and influential continent and should we be worried as this continent warms? Come and listen to the science and we’ll examine the theories and look at what the future might hold!

28. Penguins of the southern regions
As our ship heads south from Tierra del Fuego to the Antarctic Peninsular and then back up to the Falkland Islands, we are indeed in penguin territory. In this talk I will cover the eight species of penguins which exist in the southern lands, from the magnificent Emperor Penguin which is the worlds largest to the weird looking Macaroni and Magellanic Penguins. This is penguin land, and we shall look at the different species and examine how they manage to stay alive in the harshest environment on Earth. How do you huddle with your friends in -40 centigrade, 110 miles an hour winds and three months of darkness.

I have been an Enrichment cruise speaker since 2015 and have worked for Saga, Fred Olsen, Cunard, P&O and Marella. I was recently an enrichment speaker on Fred Olsen's Balmoral for their inaugural voyage to Antartica. I always receive great reviews, and talk without notes.

https://youtu.be/wEmjiDls20c

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.