Stirring the strategic direction of scuba diving marine Citizen Science: A survey of active and potential participants

Abstract

Citizen Science (CS) strengthens the relationship between society and science through education and engagement, with win-win benefits. Marine Citizen Science (MCS) is increasingly popular, thanks to society's growing interest in marine environments and marine issues. Scuba diving significantly increases the potential of MCS, thanks to the skills and behavioural properties of people who participate in the sport. To be able to exploit this potential, however, MCS needs to face challenges related to CS, to scuba diving activities and to the broader scuba diving industry. In particular, engagement and recruitment of potential volunteers, as well as retention of active participants, represent key milestones. In order to reach these milestones, information is required on current participation levels of scuba divers in MCS, as well as the motivations behind participation, and the opinions held by potential participants in MCS. This study explored different case studies and methods of data collection to provide an overview of actual and potential participation in MCS by the scuba diving community. The results show that scuba divers, whether active or potential marine citizen scientists, are well disposed towards MCS. Some barriers, however, prevent the full participation of scuba divers as marine citizen scientists. Certain barriers extend beyond the control of both divers and MCS projects, while others, such as limited access to MCS projects and poor feedback after participation, can and should be addressed. The recommendations of this research provide strategic direction to MCS, so that the broad scuba diving community can be successfully integrated into MCS. These recommendations acknowledge the important role played by stakeholders in the scuba diving industry, as well as professional intermediaries and hired experts.

Fig 1. Main motivations of scuba divers who have participated in MCS (n = 60).

Fig 2. Satisfaction levels of scuba divers with different aspects of their MCS experience (n = 60).

Fig 3. Reasons of interest (a) and lack of interest (b) in MCS among scuba divers who have never participated in MCS (n = 302).

Fig 4. Reasons why scuba divers interested in participating in an MCS project have never participated previously (a), and potential incentives for future participation (b) (n = 204).

Fig 5. Reasons why scuba divers would not consider participating in an MCS project (a), and potential incentives for future participation (b) (n = 83).

Fig 6. Conceptual diagram of role players, actions and objectives required for the success of MCS involving scuba divers.

The arrows indicate how role players are intended to take one or more of the listed actions to achieve one or more of the outlined objectives. Numbers and letters in brackets indicate the actions and objectives for each role player, respectively. A number of actions and objectives overlap between role players, highlighting the integrated nature of MCS management.