Help the reefs you dive, one dive at a time
Marine parks, scientists and conservation groups need eyes in the water. Join the ocean survey, and after a dive at a site they are studying, Diveology asks you a few quick questions about what you saw.
How it works PremiumWith the iPhone app
It fits into what you already do after a dive: logging it.
Join the survey
In Diveology for iPhone, Account, Marine research: turn on Ocean survey. It is part of Premium.
Log your dive
As usual, by hand, from your dive computer or with your dive centre's code. Choose the site from the dive site directory.
Answer in a minute
If a campaign is surveying that site, its questions come up as soon as you save. Tap your answers, even on the boat with no signal.
What you are asked
Only what you can see on a recreational dive, and every answer is picked from a list.
The water
Visibility, current, and anything unusual such as murky water, an algal or jellyfish bloom, or a slick.
The coral
How much is pale or bleached, dead, broken or diseased coral, crown-of-thorns starfish and Drupella snails, and seaweed covering the reef.
Rubbish
Plastic, fishing line, nets, ghost nets, cans and glass.
Species to look out for
A seadragon, a grey nurse shark, a turtle or a pest: whether you saw it, how many, and how it looked.
Animals in trouble
Entangled, injured or stranded animals, so the people who can help hear about them.
Nothing to measure
Water temperature comes from your dive computer by itself, when you download the dive.
Your answers, not you
The marine body running the campaign sees your answers with the day of the dive, never the time, and a random observer number that changes every year. A site shows by name only once three different divers have answered there. Your name, email address, account and logbook are never shared, and every campaign is checked by Diveology before it reaches you. See the privacy policy.
Why it matters
Reefs change between the surveys scientists can afford: a bleaching event, a crown-of-thorns outbreak, a storm that dumps rubbish, an entangled animal. Recreational divers see these places every week. Answering a minute of questions after a dive turns what you saw into observations the people looking after those places can use.
Run a marine park, a research project or a conservation group? Start a campaign, free.
Questions
What is the ocean survey?
Diveology's citizen science. Marine parks, universities and conservation groups run campaigns at the dive sites they study. If you have joined the survey and log a dive at one of those sites, Diveology asks you a few multiple-choice questions about what you saw, and your anonymised answers go to that campaign.
Do I need any training?
No. The questions are in plain words with answers to pick from: the visibility, how much of the coral was pale, any rubbish, how many of a species and how it looked. If you are not sure, skip it.
Is it free?
The ocean survey is part of Diveology Premium, A$7.99 a month or A$79.99 a year, the first week free. Premium also adds backup and sync, the website, imports, dive computer downloads and buddy links. See pricing.
Who sees my answers?
The marine body running the campaign, through its research portal, with the day of the dive (never the time), a random observer number that changes every year, and the site only once three different divers have answered there. Never your name, your email address, your account or anything else in your logbook.
Does Diveology track where I am?
No. You are asked because of the dive site you logged, not where your phone was. Diveology never tracks your location.
What if nobody is surveying my site?
Then nothing changes: you are only asked after a dive at a site a campaign is surveying, within its dates.
Can I change my answers, or leave?
Yes. Change your answers from the dive's page. Leave the survey at any time in the app (Account, Ocean survey): you are no longer asked, and the answers you already gave stay in the reports with nothing that leads back to you. Deleting a dive deletes its answers.
Join the ocean survey
The ocean survey is part of Diveology Premium. Diveology for iPhone is coming soon to the App Store. Free to download, with an optional Premium subscription.