Sometimes the best way to assess a fish population is to become a fish…. or at least pretend to be one. Snorkel surveys are a sampling method sometimes utilized by fisheries biologists to enable them to peer into the underwater hidey holes which aquatic organisms call home. These surveys allow biologists to quantify the distribution, abundance, and composition of fish in an area, assess how they might be utilizing habitat, and understand more about their behavior. While other fisheries sampling methods such as electrofishing or trapping can be used, snorkel surveys require no fish handling and very little added stress to fish, making them a relatively low-impact alternative to more invasive sampling methods. While the other sampling methods such as electrofishing certainly play a role in the biologist’s toolbox, often snorkel surveys can be used to answer questions that may not be feasible to answer using other methods. Additionally, snorkel surveys have the added benefit of being very cost effective to perform over a large area of habitat.