Update from Shearwater: Battery Contact Issues on Petrel 1

Upon conducting a root cause analysis, we suspected that the issue most likely stemmed from an issue with the battery contacts. This problem can result in lower-than-expected battery life or, in some cases, the computer resetting underwater. We then changed to using full gold plating on all contacts in January 2014. Zero problems have been reported on gold-plated units, confirming our suspicions.

Easy Steps You Can Take

While gold plating (as on all Petrels since Jan. 2014) is the best solution, these steps will allow the older contacts to be used trouble-free.

Research and Adventure on the White Sea Coast

A new eco-tourism project has just been launched on the spectacular coast of the White Sea, from the village of Chupa. Run by Vasily Efimov and Yulia Suprunenko, it offered tours of the sea coast and forest, seal and bird watching, and a trip to see the beluga whales of Nilma, for the first time this winter. The programs for this spring and summer will soon be announced.

Jordan and Israel reach agreement on restoring Dead Sea

The Dead Sea has been found to be receding at a rate of more than 3.3 feet (1 meter) every year.

The idea of linking the two bodies of water has been around for more than a century. The project began to move ahead two years ago after the World Bank determined it is possible to use the Red Sea to replenish the shrinking Dead Sea after years of studying whether such a connecting lifeline could work.

The desalination plant will produce at least 80 million cubic meters annually. Israel will buy at a cost up to 40 million cubic meters. The rest will go to Aqaba.

Some sharks are smart cookies

Researching the intelligence of the grey bamboo shark a team of researchers at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn, Germany showed that sharks could be trained to recognise and remember shapes for an extended period of time.

First juvenile sharks were subjected to three different cognition experiments, one at a time, and then tested to see how long the sharks could remember their training.