Canon USA has released a firmware update for the EOS 5D Mark III SLR. Firmware version 1.1.3 addresses several existing issue, but does not add any new features. It is understood that future updates may add additional or new capabilities to the camera. This update fixes issue with the auto lighting optimizer’s exposure control, an issue wherein the LCD does not switch off and various lens and teleconverter compatibility issues.

It is available to download from the Canon USA support site.

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The Washington Post reports on the establishment of the International Coordinating Office for Ocean Acidification, which will be housed within the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Environment Laboratories in Monaco. This will be the first global attempt to monitor how increasing carbon emissions are making the world’s oceans more acidic. The US has pledged $1 million in funding to the new body, which will need an estimated $50 million for a “robust” effort. The new body will be officially launched on 24 June at the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

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Wetpixel member Luca Vaime of Underwater Tribe has posted a series of images of some very unique (and beautiful) schooling behavior by a large group of convict blennies (Pholidichthys leucotaenia) and posted them onto the Wetpixel Facebook group. Luca found the school during an exploratory dive in South Bacan, Halmahera in the Maluku Islands on 3 May this year and this behavior is pretty much unrecorded for this species. His favorite image shows the school in an incredible teardrop shape, and he was able to shoot a full series of the school as it moved on his Nikon D80 with a Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye.

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Trailed by Wetpixel Associate Editor Alex Mustard in the first Wetpixel Hangout, Inon has now announced the release of their color correction filters for the Z240/Z220/D2000 and S-2000 series strobes. These filters warm the strobes color temperature from a native 5600°K to 4900°K or 4600°K, typically providing a richer shade of blue in wide-angle images. The filters are available in two versions, one for Z and D series strobes and another for S series. In addition, they are available in either a 4600°K or 4900°K versions and with -0.5 or non-diffused versions.

All the filters will be available from late June, at prices to be determined. Wetpixel is expecting a set to arrive soon, so please stay posted for test images.

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A study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series has found significant changes in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. The key difference is a five-fold decline in the growth of phytoplankton, which is the basis of the entire marine ecosystem. The paper suggests that a reason for this decline is the amount of run-off in local rivers caused by an increase in rainfall. This rainfall is suspected to be a result of increasing global temperatures. Jake Kritzer, a senior scientist and director of spatial management at the Environmental Defense Fund in Boston, said the study could affect future assessments of fish stocks:

“The study by Dr. Balch and his colleagues provides one of the most compelling arguments that systematic climatic and oceanographic changes are fundamentally altering the very basis of the ocean food web, very likely beyond the capacity of assessment models trying to capture dynamics spanning many decades”. The full research paper is available to download as a pdf.

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