By Heather Creech Earlier this year, the staff at the Cairns Aquarium in Queensland noticed something unusual: some of the fish stopped eating and began hiding in the dark corners of their tanks. Turns out the fish—inquisitive creatures that they are—were missing their human visitors during the pandemic lockdown. …

By Heather Creech Citizen science is not just for nature explorers. Two years ago, a group of history buffs and shipwreck divers announced that they might have found the oldest known wreck in Lake Erie: the 47-ft (14m) schooner Lake Serpent, which disappeared in 1829. They are “citizen archaeologists”—divers passionate …

By Heather Creech Sport divers are working with marine science organizations in nearly every region of the world to document the state of our ocean ecosystems. But getting those observations is challenging. In addition to identifying local marine life, volunteer divers need to be able to manage currents and …

By Heather Creech One gorgeous spring weekend in May, the residents of two small islands in British Columbia got together for something more than coffee. Loaded up with cameras, notebooks, and sample bags, adults and school kids on Mayne and Galiano Islands spread out in order to document all …

By Heather Creech Don Gordon carries a special slate on every dive. On that slate is a list of 100 species of fish, invertebrates, and marine plants for the Pacific Northwest waters. While diving with his friends, he checks off what he sees – a single sighting, a few …

Citizen scientists around the world are being urged to share their anchor ‘finds’ following the relaunch of an online resource that aims to be the world’s biggest public record of these iconic objects.  The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) has relaunched the popular Big Anchor Project following a generous public …

The Vancouver Aquarium’s lingcod egg mass survey brings together local divers for a fun citizen science project every year By Russell Clark For six weeks each winter divers across British Columbia unite to become part of a citizen science project that’s sponsored by the Vancouver Aquarium. The annual Lingcod …