PADI AWARE Global Shark & Ray Census
Connecting the diving community to science, management, and conservation
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Funded by the PADI Aware Foundation
Citizen Science can collect large amounts of high-quality and trustworthy information for science and conservation. Photos and imagery from fishers, divers, and people on the water have already identified shark and ray species range extensions (for example in the Solomon Islands), and even helped scientists "rediscover" species thought to be extinct.
With many species of sharks and rays declining around the world, there is an urgent need to collect information on where species are and are not being seen, especially in places where no other monitoring exists.
The PADI AWARE Global Shark and Ray Census (GSRC) is connecting the global network of PADI recreational and professional divers to scientists and conservationists. The program has the potential to engage the tens of thousands of active PADI divers and ocean enthusiasts around the world to log the sharks and rays seen at their sites.
The GSRC Science Team at the Fish and Fisheries Lab at James Cook University has helped design and develop the GSRC. The Science Team is now providing ongoing scientific quality review checks and verification, and in the future will be analysing and reporting on the data so that it can be used to inform conservation and management (see FAQs).
Everyone in or on the water (divers and non-divers) is invited to contribute data by logging sightings of sharks and rays, and by adopting specific sites to regularly record sightings over time. You can log your sightings using the PADI AWARE app available on the iOS and Android stores. Remember to also log dives where you did not see any sharks or rays. These 'zero data' provide very important information too.
Collaboration and coordination
The GSRC is focused on broad patterns of diversity and impacts, and on collecting data from places where no other monitoring efforts exist. Additionally, the GSRC is not designed to conduct fine-scale, photo-identification of individual sharks and rays. If your local dive shop is already working with scientists to conduct monitoring programs, we encourage divers to continue these efforts, and contrbute data where the impact is most direct. Find out if there are local monitoring programs you can be involved in before submitting data to a global program.
If you are a researcher or NGO and would be interested in collaborating with the GSRC, or you would like to access and use GSRC data, please read the "Frequently Asked Questions" and 'How to Collaborate' Guides (links below).
Fact sheets
