Guardians of the Deep

Dive. For Science.

Citizen Science: The collection of data by the general public, often in collaboration with professional scientists, to further our understanding of the natural world.
Pacific Rockfish: An iconic and charismatic species of the Salish Sea. These species can live to be over 100 years and are threatened by overfishing. A lack of data is limiting their conservation.

2017 Results: What we found

“What about a diver makes them better at collecting data? That’s the main question” “[...] What I found was that […] we need to have divers that are trained and knowledgeable about fish. The other interesting thing was that the different sites had different levels of precision. So some of the sites were easier to get data that was of high quality than other sites.” -Stefania Gorgopa
Featured on Beyond the Jargon Podcast (CFUV, Victoria), Listen Here

Local Conservation

SCUBA diving

The Salish Sea is a region of the North East Pacific Ocean connecting several major cities (Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle to name a few) and two countries (Canada and the United States). It is named for the Coast Salish First Nations whose long and ongoing relationship with the land and sea we respect and acknowledge.

Outreach

By reaching out to recruit recreational divers for Guardians of the Deep, we are bringing awareness to marine conservation issues and instilling stewardship in the BC coastal community.

Recreational SCUBA divers are recruited to count fish at monitoring sites in the Salish Sea. No science experience needed, just a globally recognized SCUBA certification.
Check out the Participant Materials

Scientific Research

The 29 diver Guardians of the Deep participants in the summer of 2017 collected data on 110 dives. The information is being used to answer questions about the quality and precision of Citizen Science data. The findings will guide the responsible use of these data in Rockfish conservation.
Full scientific report available here.