Diving for science ‐ science for diving: volunteer scuba divers support science and conservation in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

1. Recreational diving engages 20 million people worldwide. Most of the literature refers to tropical destinations but at least 1 million dives per year take place in Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs).2. Divers may negatively affect underwater habitats. However, if effectively engaged, they can contribute to science, territorial management and more sustainable local economies.3. During 2006-2014, volunteers trained by the not-for-profit organization Reef Check Italia (RCI) completed 24 714 observations and 2417 dives in six Mediterranean countries, contributing to a dataset that supports scientific papers about climate change, rare and non-indigenous species (NIS), and informs MPA management decision-making.4. The wide range of opportunities offered by this dataset is illustrated with two examples relevant to marine conservation in the context of MPA management. They concern: (i) the spread of the NIS Caulerpa cylindracea along the Ligurian coasts, with a focus on Portofino MPA, and (ii) the distribution and abundance of protected species in the Portofino MPA. 5. A diver-focused survey showed that RCI volunteers are highly committed, and that participation in RCI activities has led to a better understanding of, and a sense of stewardship towards, favoured dive sites and the marine world. Knowing who volunteers are, and why they volunteer in their favourite sector, is crucial to designing citizen-science based projects able to achieve their multiple goals.

The park never born: Outcome of a quarter of a century of inaction on the sea‐floor integrity of a proposed but not established Marine Protected Area

“…Anchoring must therefore be banned, and recreational boating regulated (Venturini et al, ). Pleasure crafts could be allowed to moor to buoys installed for this purpose, which would be especially useful for diving centres: if correctly managed, scuba‐diving tourism represents a sustainable activity that generates revenue and supports local communities (Lucrezi et al, ), and may even actively support conservation (Cerrano, Milanese, & Ponti, ). Inspections in 2016 showed that derelict fishing gear caused a severe impact on epibenthic communities, suggesting that all forms of bottom fishing must be banned and recreational fishing should be strictly regulated (Venturini, Campodonico, Cappanera, Fanciulli, & Cattaneo‐Vietti, ).…”

The understorey of gorgonian forests in mesophotic temperate reefs

“…Epibenthic sessile assemblages inside and outside P. clavata forests were investigated by applying a multifactorial sampling design. Nine sites were randomly selected among those with a high abundance of P. clavata , as reported in the Reef Check database (Cerrano, Milanese, & Ponti, ; see Appendix S1, Figure S1.1) (Figure ). At each site four areas inside and four areas outside the P. clavata forests, with similar orientation, inclination, and depth (±3 m), were randomly selected.…”

How Does the Diversity of Divers Affect the Design of Citizen Science Projects?

“…Divers are one of the main volunteer groups participating in marine CS projects (Thiel et al, 2014) and one of the most interested marine user groups (Martin et al, 2016b). However, little knowledge exists about the profiles of divers who join CS projects (Cerrano et al, 2016) and even less information is available about those who are not joining. Here we present a study of different types of divers in Chile, their background characteristics, diving experience level and their preferences for different ways of participating in marine CS.…”

“…Existing evidence suggests that divers participating in CS projects have a high education level, previous interest in science and high diving experience (Arvanitidis et al, 2011;Cerrano et al, 2016;Lucrezi et al, 2018). Martin et al (2016b) studied public interest in marine CS and found that SCUBA divers have the highest level of interest in CS among many marine user types.…”