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Fourth Element - the UK-based thermal protection manufacturer - came up with the idea in April 2020 with the aim of lifting divers' spirits, whilst they remained at home during the first British Government lockdown.

The idea was simple. Take the best photo you can underwater in your bathtub. And if you don't have a bath, just get creative. A sink, bucket, water butt or just about anything that can hold water was perfectly acceptable. 

Until recently, the geographic wanderings of the whitespotted eagle ray have always been a mystery.

Now, in a study that took place from 2016 to 2018, a team of researchers have started to unlock some of its movement patterns.

The 54 rays in the study were tagged with acoustic transmitters, along both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of Florida, using collaborative acoustic telemetry networks.

A BDSG spokesman states "Although we are currently in lockdown, it is time to start preparing to scuba dive UK sites and seas. We are all very keen to get back in the water again.

We understand that everyone is heartily sick of COVID-19 rules, hence this is an appeal for divers to do the right thing, and behave accordingly. Please take into consideration the following guidelines as you get set to scuba."

Medical Fitness

Divers need to comply with relevant medical requirements, and medicals may have lapsed, so check your dates. There is now the added complication of any impact COVID-19 may have created. Your respiratory system can be affected by the Coronavirus and can have long term effects that could impact on your ability to dive safely. If you have any doubts, seek professional medical advice from a diving doctor.

For those unfamiliar with this training agency, the qualification is the highest GUE closed-circuit rebreather (CCR) rating, ie advanced Trimix.

This means that John Kendall is able to teach both GUE's CCR courses: CCR Diver Level 1 and CCR Diver Level 2. John now joins the nine other GUE instructors in the world, capable of teaching this course.

Currently there are only 10 GUE CCR2 instructors in the world. Global Underwater Explorers

Four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean (humpback, sei, fin and blue) have changed their distribution patterns in the past decade.

Using 281 passive acoustic recorders moored to the sea floor from the Caribbean Sea to Greenland, researchers from the United States and Canada monitored the movements of the whales from 2004 to 2014. The findings of their study was published in the Global Change Biology journal.

Belugas are gregarious, highly sociable and they regularly form small groups, or pods, which may contain between two and 25 individuals, with an average of 10 members.

Pods tend to be unstable, meaning individuals tend to move from pod to pod. Their behaviour, which includes sophisticated vocal repertoires, suggest that this marine mammal lives in complex societies. It has long been thought belugas formed social bonds around females that primarily comprise closely related individuals from the same maternal lineage, but this hypothesis has never been documented.

Researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa have been uncovering clues as to why some corals bleach while others are resistant, information that could help reefs better weather warming waters in the future.

The team analysed the biochemistry of corals using mass spectrometers to understand what set resistant corals apart from susceptible ones. The scientists found that two different communities of algae lived within the corals. Inside the algae cells were compounds known as lipids.

According to a new study published in Science Advances, sawfish are no longer found in half of the world’s coastal waters, as they are being threatened by extinction due to overfishing and habitat loss.  

Of the five sawfish species, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis), smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) and green sawfish (Pristis zijsron) as critically endangered, and the dwarf sawfish (Pristis clavata) and narrow sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidata) as endangered.

Researchers conclude the northward range shift demonstrates water temperatures within their preferred temperature range of juvenile white sharks are becoming harder to find.

The animals have historically remained in warmer waters in the southern California Current; Between 1982 and 2013, the northernmost edge of the juveniles' range was located near Santa Barbara (34° N).