Wetpixel/Under The Jungle Cenote Workshop 2021
Articles
Study published about cetacean gift giving
The Anthrozoos Journal has published a study into the “gift giving” behavior of a group of wild bottle nose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) at Tangalooma Island Resort in Australia. The “gifts” were freely given by the dolphins to center staff and have included eels, tuna, squid, an octopus and an assortment of many other types of different fin fish. Scientists are not entirely sure of what is motivating their behavior although theories include an urge to play, a desire to reciprocate food sharing or the belief that the recipient of the food is an incompetent hunter. Based on their detailed observations, the scientists think that gift giving among the wild dolphins at the Tangalooma Island Resort was likely a form of play behavior. Interspecies food sharing is very rare amongst wild animals.
Video from Wetpixel Indonesia 2012
Sharon Wada has created a film from footage shot during the Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia 2012 Expedition aboard the Damai II. Entitled “14 dives in 15mm”, Sharon was on the second leg of the Wetpixel trip, which went from Triton Bay via Misool to Raja Ampat.
There is an active thread on the Wetpixel forum with lots of images from the trip too.
Season’s Greetings
As much of the Wetpixel community prepares for the holidays, we hope that everyone’s holiday season will be relaxing and enjoyable, surrounded by those that you care about. May 2013 bring you great diving, amazing photography and much happiness.
2012 has been another fantastic year for underwater imaging, and there are already many amazing images being shared in the “Favorite Image of 2012” thread now active in the forum. If you haven’t done so yet, please go on over and share your chosen image (or images as most people cheat and add more than one) to it.
Happy Holidays!
The Secret World of Mantas and Mobulas
Sharksavers has posted a video on YouTube about manta and mobula rays. The film, entitled “The Secret World of Mantas and Mobulas”, was produced as a part of the Manta Ray of Hope campaign. It focuses on sharing the unique biology and captivating behavior of manta and mobula rays and underlines their vulnerability to overfishing. Sharksavers hope that by educating people to mantas’ plight, this will encourage them to support the proposal to protect manta and mobula rays at the meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to be held in March, 2013.
Ikelite announces a housing for the EOS 6D
Ikelite has announced a mid-January release date of their housing for the Canon EOS 6D SLR camera. It joins housings for the Canon EOS 60D and Nikon D600 that are available now. Common features include wired TTL flash control, with push-button strobe output controls on the back of the housing itself, access to the bulk of camera controls, externally visible o rings and a glass optical viewfinder as standard.
The Ikelite housing for the Canon EOS 6D will retail in the USA at $1,600.
Nauticam ships the NA-S110 housing for the Canon S110
Nauticam has announced the release of a housing for the Canon Powershot S110 compact camera. The NA-S110 has the new rear o ring sealing system debuted on the NA-NEX5R, allows access to both front and rear command dials for manual exposure control, and features an M67 thread on its lens port for attachment of wet wide-angle or macro lenses. It also has ports for fiber optic strobe triggering.
The NA-S110 is shipping now.
New marine parks open in California
As of today, California has created a series of 19 underwater parks or Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along its coast. These include marine habitats found at Point Reyes, Big Sur, and in the north Point St. George Reef which is home to the second largest nesting seabird colony south of Alaska as well as estuarine waters at the mouth of waterways like Ten Mile River that are critical for salmon and steelhead populations. The MPAs are all close inshore, leaving coastal waters open for fishing.
DiveFilm HD included in iTunes Best of 2012
DiveFilm HD Video Podcasts have been selected for inclusion in the “iTunes Podcasts Best of 2012” list. The most recent podcast is “Raja” by Howard Hall. DiveFilm video podcasts are produced in association with Wetpixel. DiveFilm podcast curator Mary Lynn Price said:
“These short video podcasts have been made possible by the all of the contributing underwater filmmakers over the years, including numerous Wetpixel members. This has been a wonderful way to share the beauty of the underwater world with a very diverse audience.”