This brief report presents a summary of the activities carried out during the 5th UABC Scientific Diving Course, held from June 9 to 25, 2025, at the UABC Ensenada campus facilities and dive sites within the Bay of Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico.​​ The main goal of the course was to train and professionalize the scientific diving activities carried out by various research groups at the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), as well as by universities and research institutions with undergraduate or graduate-level academic agreements with UABC. As a strategy to achieve this objective, we continued strengthening a scientific diving course that integrates various essential skills for the safe development of underwater data collection activities. It is worth noting that this course has been regularly offered during the summer intersemester since 2019; however, it was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ​

The course included training in various underwater monitoring skills, as well as reviews and reinforcement of advanced diving, water rescue, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), first aid, use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), and oxygen administration. This is necessary due to the varied experience levels of the undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the course.

The course involved theoretical workshops where various topics and skills were introduced and later applied in the field. The modules and topics covered included:

1. The role of the scientific diver – presented from a national and international perspective, including regulations on scientific diving and global-leading monitoring programs.
2. Safety and rescue – included CPR, AED, first aid, oxygen administration, diving physics and physiology, air requirement estimation, and dive tables, based on the FMAS One- and Two-Star Diver manuals.
3. Planning and execution of underwater activities – included methodologies for underwater monitoring, planning steps, and the "Ecosystem Management for the California´s" (MExCal; mex-cal.org) monitoring program, led by the Academic Group on Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Marine Resources. This module involved theoretical and practical training for monitoring fish, macroalgae, invertebrates, and benthic community composition in kelp forest-associated temperate reefs.
4. Data entry, management, and analysis – introduced students to the post-fieldwork data processing stages. Students learned database management in Excel and especially the use of the open-source programming language R for graphing and statistical analysis.

To conclude the course, students worked in teams to develop a short research project using data they collected through the MExCal monitoring program. They performed data analysis and presented their results in both written form and as a conference-style oral presentation.

A total of eleven students participated in the course. Eight were undergraduate students from scientific majors offered by the UABC Faculty of Sciences, and three were graduate students in UABC's Coastal Oceanography Program (one PhD and two Master's). In total, nine field outings were carried out, during which approximately 20 dives were conducted at depths ranging from 5 m to a maximum of 20 m. All activities were conducted without incident, and the original objectives were met both in the classroom and in the field.

The course's lead instructor was SDI Luis Malpica Cruz

As a complement to the course, the 5th UABC International Scientific Diving Colloquium 2025 was also held. This colloquium brought together scientific diving specialists from UABC and CICESE. Presentations covered various scientific diving topics, challenges, and the requirements needed to standardize and professionalize the activity both nationally and internationally, with emphasis on UABC's strategic geographic location in Ensenada. ​ The event organizers and coordinators aim for this course to continue consolidating UABC's Scientific Diving Training Program with official recognition from FMAS/CMAS. This recognition will allow the annual offering of the course to students enrolled in UABC's science programs and other institutions with credit equivalency agreements. Additionally, we aim to position UABC as a regional and national leader in the professionalization of scientific diving, being the first educational institution in Northwestern Mexico to offer a scientific diving course of this level and quality, which we believe is comparable to those offered nationally and internationally. ​

Certifications Awarded to Graduates of the UABC Scientific Diving Course 2025

• Scientific Diver (FMAS/CMAS): 11 certifications awarded