Wetpixel/Under The Jungle Cenote Workshop 2021
Articles
For sale: Canon EOS 1000D
“For Sale: Canon EOS 1000D.
Description: only used underwater once, in the Pacific Ocean, for approximately one year.
Actual story: found off the end of a wharf in Deep Bay, BC while I was diving on a job for the harbour. I removed the SD card, cleaned it up, stuck it in a card reader and after being underwater in a corroding camera since August 2010 - it works! Approximately 50 pictures on the card from a family vacation. If you know a fire fighter from British Columbia whose team won the Pacific Regional Firefit competition, has a lovely wife and (now) 2 year old daughter - let me know. I would love to get them their vacation photos :)
There are other clues on within the pictures - I think we should be able to track them down (not sure he’ll want the camera back tho).”
This was posted by Google+ user Markus Thomson and he has subsequently discovered the camera’s owner. Plans are now afoot to reunite the owner with his pictures, although he may not want the camer back.
Mantas given protection by UN Conservation Convention
At a meeting held in Bergen, Norway, the United Nations Conservation Convention agreed to add the giant manta (Manta birostris) to Appendix 1 and 2 of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). This obligates all CMS member countries to apply strict protection to mantas and their habitats.
The listing was proposed by Ecuador and lent support by the European Union, Senegal, Madagascar, Australia, United States, Chile, Mozambique, and Uruguay. Norway, also voiced support while suggesting that the similar reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) be listed at the next Conference of the Parties, in three years. A group of NGOs spearheaded by Shark Advocates International have been lobbying for the proposal and worked directly with the Ecuador delegates to construct the proposal. It is a great result for mantas.
BBC Frozen Planet captures growth of brinicle
BBC Nature features an article about a time-lapse sequence shot as a part of the Frozen Planet series currently on air. Filmed under the ice at Little Razorback Island, near Antarctica’s Ross Archipelago, the camera crew captured the growth of a “brinicle”, which formed as a result of sea water freezing around brine released from sea ice. As this brine was well below zero and much denser than the water surrounding it, it formed a frozen icicle hanging underneath the sea ice. Due to its temperature, the brinicle is lethal to anything that it touched, freezing them instantly.
In the article, cameramen Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson talk about how awkward it was to get the equipment into place, and the fact that The large weddell seals in the area had no problems barging past and breaking off brinicles as well as knocking over the filming equipment.
Sea Save announces online auction
The Sea Save Foundation has announced that it is holding an online auction to raise funds for ocean conservation projects. Items up for grabs include 20 diving vacation and getaways, 9 items of diving equipment and gear, 4 underwater photography courses, 5 camera housings and strobes and 4 hand-crafted works of art guaranteed to delight and surprise.
The auction is open now and will run until 1 December.
Adobe faces criticism over changes to its upgrade policy
Photoshop trainer and author, Scott Kelby, has written an open letter to Adobe management protesting about a change to their upgrade policy which will come into effect with Creative Suite 6. Until now, registered owners of the previous three versions of the software have been eligible to upgrade to the newest at a discounted fee. However, beginning with CS6 the company will only allows owners of the previous version (in this case CS5 OR 5.5) to upgrade and owners of older versions will have to re-purchase CS6, rather than being able to upgrade to it.
Adobe are offering 20% off upgrades from CS2, 3 and 4 to CS 5.5 until 31 December, presumably to allow people to then upgrade into CS6 when it is released.
EU attempts to tighten anti-finning regulations
New Europe reports that the European Commission has proposed to prohibit, with no exemptions, the practice of “shark finning” aboard EU registered fishing vessels. This closes a legislative loophole that previously allowed nations to apply for a permit to allowed them to land shark fins that are not attached to shark carcasses. Specifically, the Commission proposal provides that from now on, all vessels fishing in EU waters and all EU vessels fishing anywhere in the world will have to land sharks with the fins still attached.
The new proposal is still to be voted on by the European Council and Parliament before it becomes law.
Alert Diver app released on iTunes
The latest issue is of DAN’s Alert Diver magazine has just been released as an iPad app on the iTunes app store. To download it, go to the app store and search for Alert Diver to get the app and the free issue. Currently, the app and issue are free, and will remain so for DAN US members but future issues will have a single issue subscription fee for those who are not members of DAN North America. Alert Diver quarter four will be available in North America only, with a roll-out to the rest of the world from first quarter 2012 .
The app is available now on iTunes.
Trip report for Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia 2011
Eric Cheng has posted an official trip report thread for the Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia trip 2011 in the forums. In addition, Eric has been posting updates on his journal throughout the trip. The trip ran in two halves from 26 October till 20 November, and to quote Eric:
We’ve just arrived back in Bali after spending 25 days aboard the Damai II. We left port out of Maumere on October 26 and spent half our time in and around Alor, and half our time in Komodo. 87 dives later, our group of 9 probably has one of the most incredible—and diverse—collections of underwater pictures ever taken on a single trip!”
To check out the images and read the reports, please have a look on the forum. Eric has just posted a slideshow of images from the trip too.