The crew filming an episode of “Shark Men” for National Geographic have been blamed for the fatal shark attack that occurred at Kogel Bay, near Cape Town, South Africa, iafrica.com reports. US-based documentary-maker Chris Fischer was apparently planning to use up to 5000kg (11023.11lb) of chum to attract sharks into the area, and there was a wide-spread feeling even before the attack that this may cause problems. Posts on social media sites are now accusing the Shark Men team of contributing to the cause of the attack. However, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs dismissed these concerns in a statement issued on Monday, prior to the attack, calling them “alarmist”, “misleading and inappropriate statements” and creating “unnecessary public concern”.

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Apple has released an update to its Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor 4 video products. Final Cut Pro version 10.0.4 adds: Improved image quality and responsiveness of broadcast monitoring with compatible third-party PCIe and Thunderbolt I/O devices, improved performance of multicam syncing and editing, adds language support for Simplified Chinese and adds a Share option for 1080p video on compatible iOS devices. It also fixes bugs in the previous releases. Motion 5.0.3 is largely a bug fix update whilst Compressor 4.0.3 adds the ability to run Compressor on a Mac without a monitor, improves performance when encoding MP4 and AVI files and also adds an export setting for 1080p video on compatible iOS devices.

Third-party app 7toX also updates to version 1.0.5, and consists of additional XML support and bug fixes. All the updates are available via the Mac app store.

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Another new product launched at the NAB Show this week is the Ninja 2 recorder/monitor. The updated version allows the capture and export of HDMI feeds, allowing it to record directly from the sensors of the Nikon D4 and D800 as well as that of the iPad 3. The touchscreen has also been updated, now featuring an 800x480 pixel display. It has firmware AtomOS3.0, which features SmartLog, allowing users to mark in and out points and tag clips using XML metadata, as well as monitoring aids such as Focus Peaking, Zebra, False Color and Blue-Only.

The Ninja 2 will be available from quarter 2 2012 at a retail price of $995. There will be an upgrade path for Ninja 1 owners, and the OS upgrade will be available from the end of April.

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At the NAB show, GoPro and CineStyle have announced the forthcoming release of a CineStyle color profile for the GoPro HERO2. This will be available via a free firmware update called the Protune and will include the following features: 24fps frame rate, 35Mbps data rate, neutral color profile, log curve encoding and reduced sharpening and noise reduction. This new firmware is intended to allow the HERO2 to integrate into professional workflows which will typically use material from a variety of sources.

The Protune update will be available “in the summer” and will be free for HERO2 owners.

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A study published in the The Journal of Experimental Biology entitled “Audiogram and auditory critical ratios of two Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris)” has investigated whether manatees’ hearing, or the lack thereof, is the reason behind them being the victim of boating inflicted injuries. Researchers from the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium have carried out tests on two manatees, and have found that they are capable of not only distinguishing sounds, but can also sense sounds within a frequency range far outside that of human hearing. In addition, the subjects were able to distinguish sounds against a background of other noises.

It is well accepted that manatees have poor eyesight, but this research suggests that their hearing should help them avoid contact with boats. The research continues to attempt to find out the reasons for the incidence of collisions with boats.

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