Articles
Cyclone Gita devastates island nation of Tonga
The strongest storm in 60 years has passed over the island nation of Tonga, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. While no deaths from the storm have been reported, the damage is significant including the leveling of the Parliament House. There is also widespread flooding throughout the capital of Nuku’alofa, where dozens of homes have been destroyed by the storm.
Two new genus and four new species of nudibranchs named for Gulen citizen scientists
Two new genus and four new species of nudibranchs have been described and named after the Gulen Dive Resort and its citizen scientists. One of the new genera is named Gulenia, for the Gulen Dive Resort in Norway’s Sognefjord. While one of the brand new species is named Fjordia chriskaugei for Christian Skauge. Two other species have been named Gulenia monicae and Gulenia orjani for Monica Bakkeliwas and Ørjan Sandnes, respectively, both owners of the Gulen Dive Resort.
Behind the scenes: Strobe testing in the Red Sea
Wetpixel Editor Adam Hanlon is currently in the Egyptian Southern Red Sea resort of Port Ghalib putting the final touches to Wetpixel’s comprehensive field review of the Inon Z330, Retra Flash and Symbiosis SS2 strobes. He is being kindly hosted by Emperor Divers for the next week and will be adding field notes form the testing process throughout.
In a recent paper scientists show the applications for dermal denticles
In a recently published paper scientists have shown the benefits and potential applications of dermal denticles. Shortfin mako sharks are the fastest sharks in the ocean, with speeds of up to 60 mph, and their skin is lined with dermal denticles. Scientists from Harvard and the University of South Carolina teamed up to see if these denticles actually helped. They found that the denticles not only reduced drag, but they increased lift. The research could have implications for many vehicular applications.
Underwater memorial honoring veterans to be constructed off Florida
A memorial dedicated to United States veterans is set to be constructed underwater off the coast of Tampa, Florida. The memorial will be called the Circle of Heroes and will consist of 24 concrete life-size figures that weigh 1300 pounds each. Organizers hope the 40-foot deep memorial will become a dive destination and bring in revenue to the area. Half the figures are set to be placed by the end of this summer.
A crayfish from the American south is cloning itself and taking over Europe
About 25-years ago, the marbled crayfish just did not exist. But with a single mutation, and the help of aquarium enthusiasts, a new species has mutated from the swamps of Florida and Georgia, and leaped over to Europe. Not only did the mutation create a new species, but it created one that could replicate through cloning itself. Combined with an already robust genome, this sexually self-reliant species has spread from Germany, to eastern-Europe, to even Madagascar in only a few-years.
Anglerfish has announced version 3 of their slave strobe trigger
Anglerfish has announced version 3 of their Anglerfish remote optical strobe trigger. This offers that same optical or electrical sync cable options as version 2 but rather that being powered by a rechargeable battery, has a user replaceable CR2 battery.
Vivid-Pix Software now supports RAW/DNG photos
Vivid-Pix has announced the newest version of LAND & SEA SCUBA Picture-Fix Software. The software now fully supports Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Olympus, SeaLife, and Sony RAW, DNG, TIFF, PNG and JPEG images. The software retails for $49.99.
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