Friday, June 24th, 2011

Wes Skiles named as National Geographic Explorer of the Year

National Geographic named the late Wes Skiles and environmental anthropologist Kenny Broad as National Geographic “Explorers of the Year” at last night’s “Evening of Exploration” event. This new award was presented in recognition of their extraordinary achievements in exploring and documenting the Blue Holes of the Bahamas in 2010.

Broad is a professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and director of the University of Miami’s Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. He also co-directs the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University whilst Skiles worked as a freelance photographer and produced, directed and filmed over 100 television films, many of which have won international awards and acclaim. Skiles died following a dive off of Florida in July 2010

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Last minute spots available for Mexico whale shark trip

Join Wetpixel senior moderator Shawn Heinrichs and JASA owner Jim Abernethy for an opportunity to swim in the largest whale shark gathering known on earth at Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Aggregations exceed several hundred whale sharks in blue water. The trip will cater for ocean enthusiast and photographers looking to maximize their time with the whale sharks. Each trip is 5 days on the water and although the boat will hold 10 people, it will be limited to 5 guests only. A few spots remain on the July 4-8, 9-13 and 14-18 trips.

Please email Christina for more information and bookings. The trip is being run in affiliation with Wetpixel.

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Project Seahorse publishes video on YouTube

Project Seahorse has published a video showing an insight into the weird and wonderful seahorse world onto YouTube. As seahorses suffer from the same pressures and benefit from many of the same interventions as other marine life, they can be used as a euphemism for the plight of the aquatic realm in general, and offer potential solutions. The video also highlights Project Seahorse’s work to protect them.

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

Issue 43 of X-Ray Magazine available

Issue 43 of X-Ray International Magazine is now available for download. Featured in the July issue are articles by Daniel Brinckmann and Scott Johnson on the wonders of Yap; Barb Roy and Wayne Grant on liveaboard diving aboard the Nautilus Swell in Port Hardy, BC, Canada; Kelly LaClaire and Kate Clark, on diving Southern Belize; Tyge Dahl Hermansen on mangroves; Aaron Gekoski on the broadnose sevengill shark in South Africa; flash photography by Lawson Wood and Qian Dao Lake in China with Don Silcock.

It is available for free download in either pdf or iPad formats.

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Night diving with Oceanic Whitetip sharks

All Fins On LLC has released a trailer for their forthcoming documentary, tentatively entitled “Sharks: Lord of the Log Hands.” The footage was shot on location in the Bahamas and follows the journey of ten professional divers as they seek to film Oceanic Whitetips at night. The footage claims to be the first such captured at night without a cage and also featured in the trailer are flying boats and swimming pigs!

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Ikelite releases housing for Canon Rebel T3/EOS 1100D

Ikelite has announced the release of a housing for the Canon Rebel T3/EOS 11OOD. Constructed from the company’s trademark clear polycarbonate, the new housing provides access to all camera controls except diopter adjustment and is tested to 200 feet (60 meters).

The new housing is shipping now.

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Urgent help required with California shark fin ban bill

Sharksavers is urgently calling on all California residents to contact the members of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources before 28 June and express your support for Assembly Bill AB376. The bill aims to ban the sale of shark fins in the state. It has encountered some fierce opposition by a group that is very organized, and rebutting the scientific data regarding shark populations. It is important that the members of the committee are both aware of the true facts, and also of the public support for the bill.

The Sharksavers pages have some ideas on how to present your arguments to the Committee. Please call the members now!

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Apple releases Final Cut Pro X

Apple has announced the Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are now available from the Mac App store. Final Cut Pro X features the Magnetic Timeline, a trackless approach that allows the addition of clips wherever the user wants, with the other clips moving to make way for them. It also has Content Auto Analysis, which scans and tags content and uses the information to arrange clips into Smart Collections.

Final Cut Pro X has been rebuilt from the ground up, and is a true 64 bit application, allowing the computer to access additional memory for fast rendering and real-time playback. The new Final Cut software is available now from the Mac App store for $299, while Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are $49.99 each.

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Mini review: XIT404 Quad Ball hangers

A mini review of XIT404 Quad Ball hangers. During the review of the XIT404 Quad Ball adaptors, I observed that:

“Some form of attachment eye could possibly be incorporated into the design.”

Immediately on publishing, I was informed that such a product did indeed exist and shortly thereafter, a pair of XIT404 Quad Ball adaptor hanger plates arrived.

Monday, June 20th, 2011

Report warns: World oceans at risk of extinction

The BBC has featured a report compiled by the International Program on the State of the Oceans (IPSO) that highlights the dire state of the oceans. IPSO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) co-sponsored a three-day conference earlier this year that drew 27 participants from 6 countries. Highlighting overfishing, global warming and acidification as the primary causes, the conference issued the following stark warning:

“That the world’s ocean is at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history.”

IPSO’s full report on the conference’s findings is available as a pdf download.

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