ABSTRACT
Introduction A team of competent divers can offer field-work assistance to virtually all branches of oceanographic science, whether for pure or applied research, scientific archaeology, or fisheries management. Underwater, they measure and observe a wide variety of physical, geological, and biological processes, such as the microhabitat that exists on the underside of the polar ice (Figure 18.1), submarine freshwater springs billowing out from the sea bed, iceage stalactites in drowned caves, and the most secret and intimate behaviour of marine animals. These processes, objects, and events may be difficult, more expensive, or impossible to observe otherwise. Scientific divers have worked in many parts of the world’s oceans, including Rockall in the open Atlantic, the coral reefs of Belize, and even in the highest lakes in the world on the slopes of the Himalayas.
