Sources, ratings and editorial policy
muckdiving.net covers the animals, dive sites and photographic technique of black sand and silt diving in the Indo-Pacific. The sections below explain the sources behind each page, the calculation behind the difficulty ratings, the details kept off the site on purpose, and the way to report an error.
Where the information comes from
Every page names its source, and there are three kinds. Some material is taken from dives entered in the logbook. Some is drawn from published research, with the paper cited. The rest is first-hand observation by a person who is named on the page.
Names, sizes, depths and ranges are checked against the scientific databases on the references page, which take precedence wherever they and this site disagree.
How the ratings work
Difficulty is rated from 1 to 5 separately for each location, since an animal that turns up easily on one stretch of silt can be scarce at another destination. A rating of 1 means most dives that search for the species find it, and a rating of 5 means only a handful of records exist.
Every rating begins as an editorial estimate. When the logbook holds enough dives at that location, the estimate gives way to a figure calculated from them, and the species page shows which kind of rating is in use. An estimate is never shown as if it were measured.
What is not published
The site does not say which dive site a species lives on. A species page stops at the destination and the habitat, since publishing the exact spot where a rare animal sits leads to crowding and to the animal being moved on. Unconfirmed identifications are also left out, as is anything taken from the logbook of an individual diver.
Corrections
Each page shows the date it was last revised. A correction is recorded at the bottom of the page it affects, so the earlier version is not silently replaced. Errors can be reported through [CONTACT ROUTE], which reaches the editor most quickly.