SCUBA News 240
(ISSN 1476-8011)
29 June 2020
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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 240 - June 2020
https://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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I hope you are keeping safe and well. Countries around the world are slowly starting to reopen and diving once again looks possible. Will you be going abroad to dive? Let us know.
Contents:
What's new at SCUBA Travel?
Creature of the Month: Whitetip Reef Shark
Diving news from around the World
Download as a pdf file
What's New at SCUBA Travel?
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Best Red Sea diving - St John's St Johns, in the far south of Egypt, has some of the best diving in the Red Sea. International flights will resume on 1 July.
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Possibly the most successful country in the world at dealing with Covid-19, New Zealand has some great diving. Find out what it has to offer.
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Spain & the Canary Islands are now open to travellers from the EU (apart from Portugal) and the UK. Visitors from Portugal can go from 1 July.
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Creature of the Month: Whitetip Reef Shark, Triaenodon obesus
For many, the presence of a shark makes a dive, and the Whitetip Reef Shark is the one you are most likely to see in the Indo- and Eastern Pacific (Red Sea, Australia, South Africa, Maldives, Philippines, Costa Rica, Galapagos, etc.). Easily recognised by the whitetips on its dorsal fin and tail, and its relatively slim body, it is harmless unless provoked. You often see it resting on the bottom - particularly in channels or caves.

As its name suggests, the reef shark prefers shallow water. This, and its lazy day time habits, are why it is so often seen by divers.
The shark hunts at night, sometimes in packs. It finds moving fish by homing in on the small electrical impulses they emit. However, even inactive fish are not safe as the shark can smell them. It prefers medium sized fish like damselfish, wrasse and parrotfish. These hide themselves deep in the coral, out of reach of the Whitetip's large head and mouth. Other foods include octopuses and crustaceans.

It takes around 5 years for the Whitetip Reef Shark to mature and give birth to live young. Litters of two or three pups are normal, which can live for 25 years.
Class: Chondrichthyes > Order: Carcharhiniforms (Ground Sharks) > Family: Carcharhinidae (Requiem Sharks)
Diving News From Around the World
Our round up of the best underwater news stories of the past month. For breaking news see our Twitter page or RSS feed
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World Nomads resumes selling scuba diving travel insurance
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Bluewater University Launches as a New Online Portal for Underwater Education
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Sculpture takes the Great Barrier Reef's temperature
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Scientists warn against 'greenwashing' of global coastal developments
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Where are South Africa's great white sharks?
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Malta's Diving sector in dire straits as virus dries up activity
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Former NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan breaks new water by diving 36,000ft to the lowest point on Earth
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Report on New Caledonia's coral reefs offers a glimmer of hope for the future
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When can you travel to dive again and where can you go?
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Photo credits: Tim Nicholson, Jill Studholme, Kristin Riser, Jianye Sui
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Jill Studholme
SCUBA News
The Cliff
Upper Mayfield
DE6 2HR
UK
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