A key element of DiveNI is to encourage divers, snorkellers, freedivers and all marine explorers to share and report their observations both above and below the water.
Whether you are diving on a shipwreck, angling from the shore, exploring rockpools or sailing across the Irish Sea, your observations are of great interest and value for monitoring, managing and ultimately, protecting, our local natural, and historical, marine heritage.
The Record section of DiveNI provides information and guidelines for recording both marine species and heritage. But you can contribute to marine monitoring across the site through simply sharing your comments, images and videos from your dives!
Record Species
The Record Species page on DiveNI guides you through how, and where, you can submit records for species which you identified during your dive. Once verified, your records are available to view on the NBN Atlas. We have included links to the Atlas for each dive site on DiveNI to give you an idea of what species you might expect to see as well as helping you to identify species during or after your dive. You can also tag DiveNI and Seasearch Northern Ireland on Facebook to share your photos and videos with the diving community!
There are a number of online portals which are listed on the Record Species page that will help you with ID and we have produced some brand new ID guides which you can download or request a free hard copy of. These waterproof, pocket sized guides cover invasive species, species of interest and rocky shore species all found in Northern Ireland.
Our short video guides you through Recording Species via DiveNI:
Record Heritage
We have a rich underwater cultural heritage in Northern Ireland which we need to conserve for future generations. Divers and the general public have been instrumental in discovering and recording new underwater archaeological sites and artefacts and our Record Heritage page provides information about how you can report findings or observations. Reporting damage or illegal activity at sites is equally as important as reporting new finds and the Record Heritage page explains the various rules and regulations that apply. Sticking to these rules is vital for ensuring that our reputation as a community of divers remains clean and by reporting information we can make a significant contribution to protecting our maritime cultural heritage.
Sally Stewart-Moore
DiveNI Creator
