This section gives you the operational procedures your team will follow for each of the three dives. Each procedure is built around the human-factors concepts in Module 6: closed-loop communication, shared mental models, role differentiation, and team-led decisions with flat in-water authority.
The procedures are written for the team — not for the instructor. During training the instructor sits outside the team, verifying and supervising. After certification, your team runs these procedures on your own. Build the habits now.
Each dive has four parts: an Equipment Checklist (verify before suiting up), three procedure phases (A topside, B briefing, C entry), and a Post-Dive Procedure. Steps are tagged with the team member who owns them: Team, Photographer, Safety Diver, SDO (Surface Data Operator), or SW (Surface Watch). The instructor is named only where they are part of the verification loop.
Dive 1: Sector Bathymetry
Your team tows a surface sonar float in a planned grid pattern over a sector of the survey site. The SDO monitors the Fish Deeper app topside. You produce a raw bathymetric track that becomes the bathymetric DEM during Surface Interval 1.
Equipment Checklist — Dive 1
Verify all of these before anyone suits up. Any unchecked item halts the dive until resolved — no exceptions, no “we’ll figure it out underwater.”
Supplemental to standard pre-dive safety procedures — not a replacement for them. Complete and confirm the following before the specialty-specific items below.
☐ All standard pre-dive safety checks complete (team/safety check, gas analysis, equipment inspection, weights and releases, emergency action plan).
☐ Environmental conditions assessed and judged appropriate (weather, wave, current, visibility, traffic, temperature, entry and exit).
☐ Certifying-agency standards, dive-plan limits, and each diver's personal and certification limits confirmed.
☐ Deeper Smart Sonar Max — antenna seated, battery charged, no visible damage.
☐ Spare Deeper unit available.
☐ High-stability surface float with reserve buoyancy appropriate for today’s wind and wave.
☐ Finger spool, 30 m+ of line, free-running, no knots.
☐ Cutting device accessible with either hand on every diver.
☐ Surface configuration chosen (A topside operator / B data buoy) based on grid size and conditions.
☐ Fish Deeper device: app installed, logged in, paired with the sonar. (Multi-team day: everyone on the same Fish Deeper account.)
☐ Config B only: RF-transparent case link tested with the case sealed; case mounted low and centered; float still floats well with it attached.
☐ Device battery > 50% or external power; storage available; test export confirmed.
☐ Dive flag mounted visibly on the float.
☐ EAN tanks analyzed within last 24 hours; mix logged; dive computers set.
☐ Slate with the team’s grid-spacing calculation already written.
☐ Site legal status reviewed.
Pre-Dive Procedure — Dive 1
Phase A — Topside Equipment Activation
A1. Team: Complete the Equipment Checklist above. Anything unchecked stops the dive.
A2. SDO: Power the Deeper sonar. Confirm pairing in Fish Deeper. Open Boat-mode 3D mapping.
A3. SDO: Confirm GPS lock and that the position on the map matches the actual site.
A4. SDO: Run a test ping at a known shallow depth. Confirm the displayed depth matches reality within ±0.3 m. (If it doesn’t, your sonar will lie to you all morning. Don’t skip this.)
A5. SDO: Start a brief test recording. Stop it. Confirm the file appears and export works.
A6. SDO: Config B only: with recording confirmed, GPS locked, and storage/battery checked, seal the device in the case, re-confirm the link holds with the case closed, then mount it on the float. Config A: keep the device with you.
A7. Instructor: Inspects spools, cutters, EAN, and float reserve buoyancy for today’s conditions and any mounted case.
↪ If any equipment item fails, or the sealed-case link is weak: swap from spares, switch configuration, or abort. No improvising.
Phase B — Site Briefing and Planning
B1. Team + Instructor: Confirm site boundaries and your assigned sector.
B2. Team: Verbalize your grid spacing for today’s bottom depth and beam angle. The instructor acknowledges back with the same number (closed-loop). If the instructor says a different number, do not just nod — ask which is right.
B3. Team: State the expected Surveyor’s Pivot count (at least four).
B4. Team: Assign and verbalize roles: towing diver, navigating diver, SDO, SW. State plainly: any team member can call abort, including topside. The SDO has more information than the divers during this dive — their abort is authoritative.
B5. Team: State the abort criteria out loud: 1500 PSI turn, 700 PSI surface, GPS lock lost, float submerged, lost visual contact with teammate over 1 minute, boat traffic, deteriorating conditions.
B6. Team: Confirm go/no-go criteria for current conditions. If conditions have worsened since the morning briefing, re-evaluate — don’t press on (plan continuation bias — Module 6).
Phase C — Entry and Descent
C1. Team: EAN analysis check; tank pressures recorded; computers set for the mix.
C2. Team: Team safety check: gear, weights, releases, air, final OK.
C3. SDO: Config A: begin recording in Fish Deeper before any diver enters the water, so the first lane is captured. Config B: recording was already started and verified at the seal step — do not open the case.
C4. SW: Confirm in position with line-of-sight to the float; signal ready.
C5. Team: Enter water. Deploy the float. Verify it rides correctly under tow tension, antenna clear, any mounted case stable and upright.
C6. Towing Diver: Take the spool by hand. Do not clip it, tie it, or wrap it. Confirm your cutter is accessible.
C7. SDO: Config A: confirm GPS lock and recording status, then give the go signal. Config B: confirm the float and case are riding correctly, then give the go (you can’t see live status once sealed — rely on the seal-step check and a clear-lid glance if you have one).
C8. Team: Descend on planned heading to the start of the first lane.
↪ If Config A and GPS lock or recording fails before descent: abort and resolve topside. Config B: if the seal-step check didn’t pass cleanly, don’t deploy — re-verify or switch to Config A. Don’t descend on a broken data run.
Post-Dive Procedure — Dive 1
D1. Team: Surface, signal OK, exit. Recover the float and spool together — not separately, or you’ll wrap line around your gear.
D2. SDO: Stop the recording. Confirm the file appears in the file list with the expected duration.
D3. SDO: Export the raw track to the instructor’s laptop AND a second backup location before any cleaning. The raw file is the only honest record of what the instrument actually returned.
D4. Team: Log tank pressures, bottom time, depths, and any anomaly notes (dropouts, missed lanes, float incidents).
D5. Instructor: Verifies EAN computers cleared, no decompression obligations incurred.
D6. Team: Run a structured 5–10 minute debrief. What went well? What went wrong? What would we do differently? Just culture (Module 6) — errors are information, not failings. The SDO’s report is data, not a confession.
D7. Instructor: Signs the log; notes any deficiencies and remediation plan.
Dive 2: Object Orbit
Your team orbits a topographical anomaly identified during Surface Interval 1, capturing a photogrammetric image set. The Photographer controls the orbit and shutter; the Safety Diver carries situational awareness for both divers. This is the dive where task loading bites hardest — read Module 6 if you haven’t.
Equipment Checklist — Dive 2
Verify all of these before anyone suits up.
Supplemental to standard pre-dive safety procedures — not a replacement for them. Complete and confirm the following before the specialty-specific items below.
☐ All standard pre-dive safety checks complete (team/safety check, gas analysis, equipment inspection, weights and releases, emergency action plan).
☐ Environmental conditions assessed and judged appropriate (weather, wave, current, visibility, traffic, temperature, entry and exit).
☐ Certifying-agency standards, dive-plan limits, and each diver's personal and certification limits confirmed.
☐ Camera or housing: battery charged, storage cleared, manual mode tested.
☐ Intervalometer tested topside at the interval calculated in Surface Interval 1.
☐ White balance set manually or to depth-appropriate preset — not auto.
☐ Lens or port clean; no fingerprints, sunscreen, or fog.
☐ Scale bar (calibrated, length recorded) ready for placement.
☐ Control point markers if your registration plan uses photo controls.
☐ Cutting device accessible on every diver.
☐ EAN analyzed; dive computers set; gas-management plan stated.
☐ Target coordinates from SI1 written on the slate.
☐ Protected-feature restrictions for this site confirmed.
Pre-Dive Procedure — Dive 2
Phase A — Topside Equipment Activation
A1. Team: Equipment Checklist complete.
A2. Photographer: Power the camera. Confirm intervalometer setting matches the orbit plan from SI1 (B → t conversion, Module 2).
A3. Photographer: Run a 5–10 frame test sequence topside. Inspect for focus, exposure, and interval consistency.
A4. Team: Walk through the scale-bar visibility plan. The bar must appear in multiple frames across the orbit, not just one viewing angle, or your scale solution will be unreliable.
A5. Instructor: Inspects housing seal, control point markers, EAN computers, and the team’s calculated orbit radius and frame count.
↪ If the camera fails the test sequence or the housing is questionable: swap to a backup or abort.
Phase B — Site Briefing and Planning
B1. Team + Instructor: Confirm the target location and approach route from the descent point.
B2. Team: Verbalize orbit radius, angular spacing (Δφ), frame count, and shutter interval. Closed-loop acknowledgment from the instructor.
B3. Team: Assign Photographer and Safety Diver roles. State plainly: either diver can call abort. The Safety Diver carries gas/NDL/visual-contact for both — they’re not your assistant, they’re your team.
B4. Team: State the quarter-turn check intervals. The Safety Diver will verbalize each quarter-turn checkpoint.
B5. Team: Abort criteria: 1500 PSI turn, 700 PSI surface, lost visual contact with teammate over 1 minute, NDL approach, equipment failure, target obscured beyond usable image quality.
B6. Team: Scale-bar contingency: if you can’t place the bar safely (would damage habitat), place it at the nearest acceptable spot and document the change. Habitat first.
Phase C — Entry and Descent
C1. Team: EAN check; pressures; mix-set computers.
C2. Team: Team safety check.
C3. SW: In position; signal ready.
C4. Team: Enter water. Descend together to the target along the planned route.
C5. Photographer: Place the scale bar; place control points if used. No-contact discipline applies — if you can’t place it without disturbance, document that you couldn’t and move on.
C6. Team: Establish neutral buoyancy at planned orbit radius and altitude before any shutter sequence begins. Don’t shoot while still settling.
C7. Photographer: Begin the intervalometer. Signal to the Safety Diver that capture is running.
↪ If visibility, current, or backscatter make image quality unusable: capture what’s achievable, abort the orbit early, and document the limitation. A short usable orbit beats a long unusable one.
Post-Dive Procedure — Dive 2
D1. Team: Recover the scale bar and control points before ascent. Nothing left behind on or near the target.
D2. Team: Surface, signal OK, exit.
D3. Photographer: Stop the intervalometer. Confirm frame count is roughly what you expected.
D4. Photographer: Transfer images to the instructor’s laptop and a second backup location before any culling or editing. Originals never get overwritten.
D5. Team: Quick-check the image set against the Minimum Acceptable Photo Set standard: overlap continuity, sharpness, scale-bar visibility, exposure consistency.
D6. Team: Log pressures, time, depths, anomaly notes.
D7. Instructor: EAN check; no deco obligations.
D8. Team: Structured 5–10 minute debrief. Just culture (Module 6).
Dive 3: Photogrammetric Orthomosaic Pass
Your team flies a nadir-pointing grid above the survey area, capturing a parallel-strip image set for an orthomosaic. The dive sits at moderate altitude above the bottom (20–45 ft maximum depth), with planar buoyancy discipline replacing the spool/sonar discipline of Dive 1. Disorientation in mid-water with no bottom reference is the main novel risk.
Equipment Checklist — Dive 3
Verify all of these before anyone suits up.
Supplemental to standard pre-dive safety procedures — not a replacement for them. Complete and confirm the following before the specialty-specific items below.
☐ All standard pre-dive safety checks complete (team/safety check, gas analysis, equipment inspection, weights and releases, emergency action plan).
☐ Environmental conditions assessed and judged appropriate (weather, wave, current, visibility, traffic, temperature, entry and exit).
☐ Certifying-agency standards, dive-plan limits, and each diver's personal and certification limits confirmed.
☐ Camera or housing: battery charged, storage sized for the planned grid pass plus margin, manual mode tested.
☐ Intervalometer set to the interval calculated in Surface Interval 2.
☐ White balance set for the planned operating altitude and ambient lighting.
☐ Lens or port clean; housing seal inspected.
☐ Bottom-altitude reference identified (e.g., depth-from-bottom estimate from the bathymetric DEM).
☐ Scale references in place or verified visible if a scaled orthomosaic is required.
☐ Cutting device accessible.
☐ EAN analyzed; dive computers set; NDL margin confirmed for the shallow planar profile.
☐ Site legal status reviewed for the wider survey area.
☐ Single-pass fallback criteria written on the slate.
Pre-Dive Procedure — Dive 3
Phase A — Topside Equipment Activation
A1. Team: Equipment Checklist complete.
A2. Photographer: Set the intervalometer to the interval calculated in SI2 for planned altitude and swim speed.
A3. Photographer: Topside test sequence at the planned interval. Confirm interval consistency.
A4. Instructor: Inspects housing seal, EAN, and the team’s calculated lane spacing and operating altitude.
↪ If the camera fails the test sequence or the housing is questionable: swap to backup or abort.
Phase B — Site Briefing and Planning
B1. Team + Instructor: Survey area boundaries and hazards — drop-offs, snag points, surface traffic lanes.
B2. Team: Verbalize operating altitude, lane spacing, shutter interval, and intended pass directions. Closed-loop acknowledgment.
B3. Team: Assign Photographer / Safety Diver roles. Flat in-water authority.
B4. Team: State the single-pass fallback criteria: gas, NDL, visibility, current, attention narrowing. If you can’t do a second perpendicular pass safely, you do one good pass and document. This is not a failure; it’s judgment.
B5. Team: Abort criteria: 1500 PSI turn, 700 PSI surface, lost visual contact over 1 minute, NDL approach, disorientation, equipment failure, weather change.
B6. Team + Instructor: No-contact rule: no finning, hovering, or marker placement may disturb silt, coral, vegetation, artifacts, or animal life to improve the image. Habitat first, picture second.
↪ If conditions have changed since SI2 (visibility, current, traffic): re-plan rather than press on.
Phase C — Entry and Descent
C1. Team: EAN check; pressures; mix-set computers.
C2. Team: Team safety check.
C3. SW: In position; signal ready.
C4. Team: Enter water. Descend to the planned operating altitude.
C5. Team: Establish neutral buoyancy at altitude. No bottom contact. Verify altitude before the data run starts.
C6. Photographer: Begin the intervalometer at the start of the first lane. Signal to Safety Diver.
C7. Team: Maintain visual contact with bottom topography through every lane turn. Do not turn looking only at the camera screen — that’s how disorientation starts.
↪ If disorientation in mid-water between lanes: halt, re-establish bottom reference, regroup with teammate, resume only when oriented. There is no prize for finishing while disoriented.
Post-Dive Procedure — Dive 3
D1. Team: Surface together, signal OK, exit.
D2. Photographer: Stop the intervalometer. Confirm image set covers the planned area.
D3. Photographer: Transfer images to the instructor’s laptop and a second backup before any culling.
D4. Team: Quick-check the image set against the Minimum Acceptable Photo Set criteria.
D5. Team: Log pressures, depths, lanes completed, and any single-pass-fallback notes.
D6. Instructor: EAN check; no deco obligations.
D7. Team: Final cross-dive debrief. What did we learn across all three dives? What will the final accuracy and limitations statement need to acknowledge? Just culture (Module 6).
D8. Instructor: Signs the log. Transitions the team-discipline responsibility to the certified divers explicitly: “From here, this is your team’s discipline to maintain.”