Understanding Diver Behavior on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Enriching the Observation Record Using Video Methods

Joanne Edney, Kay Dimmock and William E. Boyd
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Joanne Edney: Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Southern Cross University, East Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
Kay Dimmock: Faculty of Business, Law and Arts, Southern Cross University, East Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
William E. Boyd: Emeritus Faculty, Southern Cross University, East Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: Successful underwater heritage management requires a sound understanding of visitor behavior. Primary visitors to underwater heritage sites are divers whose behavior can pose risks to the integrity of site cultural heritage and tourism values. This study seeks to understand wreck diver in-water behavior. Conventional observation of diver behavior is limiting. Wearable cameras are becoming popular across many recreational activities and potentially expand the scope and quality of diver observation. Video observation is rarely used in such research. This article demonstrates the potential of video observation, describing the analysis of first-person video records to explore details of diver behavior on shipwrecks. The evidence demonstrates that while most divers behaved responsibly, a few contributed to most contact behaviors. The analysis details this behavior, identifying, for example, that deliberate holding and touching comprised most contacts. Such findings on diver behavior inform heritage and tourism management decisions and provide a baseline for future studies. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the power of this method of observing divers and other recreationists. This is particularly valuable for researching recreationalists in confined spaces, such as caves or shipwrecks. The quality of results allows for further evidence-based examination of motivations, values, intentions and meanings underlying observed diver behavior.

Keywords: scuba diving; wreck diving; wearable camera; diver behavior; observational study; shipwrecks; management of underwater cultural heritage; Chuuk Lagoon; Federated States of Micronesia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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