D
iving is unusual for the breadth of appli-
cations it can support. From entry-level
recreational tours to hardcore recreation-
al-technical excursions and from uncom-
plicated commercial projects to offshore
saturation, the reasons people spend time underwater are
innumerable and varied. Law enforcement, coast guard,
and military services all have a toe or an entire leg in the
diving realm. Photographers use diving for everything
from point-and-shoot dalliances to commercial movie
productions. And those movie productions may require
diving not just by cinematographers, but by the cast, con-
struction workers and safety personnel. An even broader
use of diving is to support science.
SCOPE
Scientific diving is diving conducted as part of scientif-
ic research or educational activity, generally under the
auspices of a scientific diving program. Scientific dives
are conducted worldwide, using a variety of methods
to address a wide range of goals. The finprints of scien-
tific divers can be found from tropical to polar waters,
and from well below sea level to altitudes approach-
ing 20,000 feet. The biological sciences rely heavily on
scientific diving, both for in-situ studies such as those
popular in ecology and for sample collecting to support
almost every conceivable subdiscipline. Chemistry,
especially natural products chemistry, relies heavily on
underwater collections to discover new compounds.
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SPRING 2014
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE
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A D V A N C E D D I V I N G
Scientific Diving and
Safety ProgramOversight
B Y N e a l W . P o l l o c k , P h . D .
A researcher samples algal ecosystems
under the fast ice in the high Arctic.
The UK NERC National Facility for Scientific Diving
