October 2021

If the name Peter Sotis rings a bell, it is no coincidence. He was Rob Stewart's dive buddy when the filmmaker tragically lost his life on a deep rebreather dive in 2017, after which he was ostracised by the dive community as well as sued by Stewart’s family for his role in Stewart's death. Both the incident and the lawsuit have been covered in the magazine.

Why sharks sometimes bite humans remains unclear, but potential reasons include mistaken identity, whereby sharks are thought to mistake humans for their typical prey; curiosity; hunger; and defensive/offensive aggression.

The mistaken identity theory has received little scientific scrutiny and the visual similarity between humans and pinnipeds at the surface has been debated largely on the basis of human visual perception, rather than that of sharks.

Can hunting by echolocation be as fast as hunting by sight?

As visual animals, we may find this a peculiar question—not so if one applies it to animals that hunt using echolocation, like bats, dolphins and whales. These animals emit clicking sounds and use the reflected echoes to determine the location of objects and other animals.

Can animals that hunt using echolocation lock onto their prey and track their movements, and how fast can they react? These were questions that an international team of researchers sought to answer.

The England-based conference features presentations from around the world on shipwrecks, maritime archaeology and treasure. 

There are several possible reasons for this. To get an idea why, we can look to Australia, where the dive industry is still reeling.

In Queensland, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been catastrophic. Before the pandemic, the industry depended highly on backpacker instructors and those with short-term work visas. Australia’s high cost of living and low wages discourages many locals from careers as dive instructors.