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Scuba divers are at the heart of the BlueDOT project. By uploading the profiles from their dive computers onto the Divelogs portal and consenting to share these to the BlueDOT scientific database, divers make a valuable contribution to marine research.

Using Citizen Science to Fill Data Gaps in the Mediterranean

The project team uses this citizen-sourced data, in compliance with data-protection regulations, to monitor and record temperature changes across different parts of the Mediterranean Sea and from coastal regions worldwide. Dr. Christophe Galerne and Prof. Achim Kopf, both from MARUM at the University of Bremen, Dr. Rebecca Zitoun from 黑料视频 Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, and Arne Schwab from Schwab Research Technology are leading the project.

Underwater Sensors: Calibration at Reference Dive Sites

To improve the quality of the collected data and ensure that temperature readings from the different dive computers are comparable, BlueDOT has installed permanent high-precision temperature sensors at selected reference dive sites on the Costa Brava, Heligoland, and the Maltese island of Gozo. These permanently deployed sensors record the temperature at various depths, allowing scientists to calibrate the data collected from dive computers against consistent, high-resolution measurements. To support this effort, BlueDOT is collaborating with two diving centers in Spain and Malta. These centers play a key role in engaging the diving community, raising awareness about the project, and helping to test and maintain the sensors.

Global Potential: Six Million Divers Worldwide

According to Christophe Galerne, the use of the sensors increases the accuracy of the database, 鈥渨hich creates a more reliable basis for research and helps to develop an optimal approach for the global expansion of the project in the long term.鈥� These diver-sourced data are an important complement to existing ocean-monitoring platforms such as satellite observations, Argo floats, and hydrographic surveys. 鈥淲ith an estimated six million active scuba divers worldwide, this citizen science initiative represents a huge potential for enhancing climate research through widespread, community-driven observations of ocean temperature.鈥�

The project is funded by the BMFTR 鈥� Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, began in December 2024 and is initially scheduled to run for about 18 months. This serves as a test phase to develop the best approach for a possible global expansion.

Warming with Consequences: How Rising Sea Temperatures Affect Us

The team has already evaluated diving data from the Mediterranean Sea. As Galerne expected, these indicate that average ocean temperatures are rising steadily. The water masses of the oceans act as heat reservoirs that interact with the atmosphere and thus influence the climate. If this system becomes unstable with the continued warming of surface water, it could lead to intensified evaporation and, ultimately, regionally limited extreme precipitation events in the surrounding areas. Galerne explains that the associated rain belt has continuously shifted farther northward over the past 20 years, leading to sporadic droughts as well as heavy rainfall and flooding.

More Than Just Summer Data 鈥� Why Every Season Counts

鈥淭he constant warming and increasing frequency of marine heatwaves also have significant implications for biodiversity and the ecosystem services our oceans provide, making these phenomena a critical factor to consider in both research and management. There presently exists what is known as sampling bias in the data. This is exhibited by a clear predominance of data obtained during the warmer months and the holiday seasons. In order to be able to establish an average value, we would like to encourage divers to enter their data 鈥� including older data 鈥� into our portal and also to record and upload data from cooler seasons,鈥� says Galerne. By filling these seasonal gaps, divers can play a crucial role in building a completer and more accurate picture of how ocean temperatures are changing throughout the year.

The project is officially endorsed by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.