DIVR
Recreational divers make millions of dives every year and see more of the underwater world than most researchers ever will. Almost none of those observations reach science: they end up in paper logbooks. DIVR closes that gap. It is a free dive-logging app (iOS, Android, web) that works the way divers already log: note the dive, add photos, list the species you saw. Under the hood, every sighting is validated against the WoRMS register, the international authority on marine species names, then structured in Darwin Core, the standard format for biodiversity records, and delivered to marine research organisations. DIVR works with Coral.org and EMODnet. The catalogue holds 4,300+ species and 4,700+ dive sites worldwide, with region-specific species checklists built from real occurrence data. No survey course or programme to join. The app is free for divers.
Aim
To turn the observations recreational divers already make into validated, openly structured biodiversity data for marine science, expanding ocean observation coverage in coastal and reef environments where research survey effort is sparse but recreational diving is dense.
