What People Say

I work in coral reef management on a daily basis, yet your course not only refreshed, but brought new insight and knowledge. For example, redlip blennies lacking a swim bladder explains a lot of the behaviour we observe on the reef with respect to this little creature. I am really impressed - this is a fantastic course.

Angelique, Scientist, Coastal Zone Management Unit, Government of Barbados
     
Do-It-Yourself GPS Coral Reef Mapping PDF Print E-mail

telephonepolenorth_200pixDo-It-Yourself GPS Coral Reef Mapping

 

 

 

The production of 3D Coral reef maps involves four main steps:

1.    In-water data collection
2.    Data cleaning and compilation
3.    3D ocean floor modeling
4.    Graphic design & printing

How does Do-It-Yourself GPS Coral Reef Mapping work?

This formula allows dive operators to participate in the coral reef mapping project and eliminates the cost related to Step 1: The dive operator carries out in-water data collection with the help of Beautiful Oceans' proprietary GPS coral reef mapping protocol. GPS coral reef mapping workshops are offered to teach yours staff how to collect  data in-water with pre-configured GPS mapping equipment.

Collected data is then transferred via the Internet to Beautiful Oceans where it is cleaned, compiled and processed with 3D ocean floor modeling software. Our graphic designers then apply textures to the reef model and add biological information, dive routes and points of special interest to the map.Finally each map is produced in several formats: wall-sized posters, letter-sized prints for a collector's binder, pocket dive slates and an interactive and animated version for the web.

Below you will find a short summary of the data that is collected in-water -  each of the following steps is explained in great detail in our proprietary GPS coral reef mapping protocol:

•    taking depth measurements while diving and from the surface
•    recording points of special interest at depth with the help of GPS
•    recording a dive or snorkel route at depth with the help of GPS
•    recording a reef contour in-water and from the surface with the help of GPS
•    gathering underwater photos and/or videos
•    establishing an inventory of coral reef organisms occurring at the dive site

To learn more about the tasks involved in coral reef mapping, click here.

Please contact us for more information and pricing.