To find the number of samples collected, we need to determine the number of intervals of 3 meters between 5 meters and 35 meters.
The difference between the starting depth (5 meters) and the final depth (35 meters) is 35 - 5 = 30 meters.
Since the diver collected a sample at every 3 meters, we can divide the total depth by the interval length: 30 / 3 = 10.
Therefore, the diver collected 10 samples in total.