Dead and Gone

After another fun night in Damascus we headed south into Jordan to find the Dead Sea, something that used to be easier in the 80's. Since then the sea has lost more than 14 cubic kilometres of volume! (4km square in surface area) An amazing rate for this sea which is already 1300m below standard sea level.
We drove for a kilometre or so across old sea bed before abandoning the cars to walk. After 20minutes we didn't seem to be getting much closer to the water. This is a picture of the Aussies assessing the situation before we headed back to find another route.
The cause is water being consummed in tomato and banana plantations and potash production which have reduced the might river Jordan (which divides Jordan and Israel) to a mere trickle.
Hopefully something can be done to rectify this soon before an amazing place dries up for good.