Friday, February 25th, 2011

Coral Reefs Revisited: 90% of all reefs threatened by 2030

The Huffington Post has quoted a report that suggest that by 2030, over 90% of the worlds coral reefs will be threatened, and by 2050, nearly all reefs will be. The report, “Reefs at Risk Revisited” carried out by the World Resources Institute, cites ocean acidification and global warming as the major causes of this potential catastrophe. However over-fishing, coastal development and pollution are also seen as being significant problems.

All may not be lost though as one of the reports authors, Lauretta Burke states that with quick, broad action much may be saved:

“A future with dying or dead reefs is not a future we are committed to.”

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Apple unleashes Thunderbolt

As is being discussed in the forums, Apple has announced the release of a re-designed series of MacBook Pro notebooks. Among the new features is a new system for connecting peripherals: Thunderbolt. This is a new high-speed peripheral-connection technology that combines data, video, audio, and power in a single connection. Thunderbolt allows for very high-speed connection of peripherals such as hard drives, RAID arrays, video-capture solutions, and network interfaces, and it can transmit high-definition video using the DisplayPort protocol. Each Thunderbolt port also provides up to 10 Watts of power to connected peripherals.

Macworld reports that a Thunderbolt channel can provide up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) of data throughput and each Thunderbolt port includes two channels It can also transmit and receive data at the same time. Even with estimated real-world performance of around 8Gbps, Thunderbolt is many times faster than FireWire 800 and USB 3.0. It’s also significantly faster than the eSATA connections available on many Windows PCs.

It is rumoured that the forthcoming Nikon D4 SLR will be equipped with the technology.

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

Into the Deep exhibition opens

Into the Deep, an exhibition of underwater images, will be on display in Edinburgh, UK from Friday 25 February. The outdoor display is presented by Steve Bloom Images and Edinburgh International Science Festival. The images start at the surface of the ocean and travel downwards looking at sharks, coral reefs and eventually the creatures of the deep. The exhibit features photography from Steve Bloom along with that of Franco Banfi, Daniel Selmeczi, David Shale, Wetpixel Associate Editor Alexander Mustard and more.

A total of 60 giant photographs will be on show, which is at St Andrews Square, Edinburgh and runs from 25 February to 1 May.

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Monterey Bay Aquarium launches new exhibits

In July, the Monterey Bay Aquarium at Monterey, CA will open new galleries featuring “The Open Sea”, which aims to highlight the epic migrations of ocean animals and the constant motion of life in the open ocean. Senior Exhibit Developer Jaci Tomulonis explains;

“The open sea is one of the few truly wild places left on the planet,” and “in addition to introducing visitors to the diverse species that make their homes here, The Open Sea exhibit will offer simple ways to help protect ocean animals so they’re around for generations to come.”

The aquarium’s white shark research project resumes in 2011, and a young great white shark could again be on exhibit in late summer. The field research team will also tag and track juvenile great white sharks in the wild, gathering information vital to the protection of these ocean predators as they move through coastal waters in southern California and Mexico.

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Video: Whale Shark Island by Kip Evans

Whale Shark Island by Kip Evans was the non-broadcast winner at the 2010 Blue Ocean Film Festival. It features the waters around Isla Holbox off of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico which are seasonally rich with plankton and are the scene of a feast for whale sharks. Large aggregations of them gather to feed on the bloom from June through September. The sharks have become the core of a local tourism industry, but over-development could threaten this delicate balance.

Kip Evan’s film, narrated by Dr Sylvia Earle, shows this dilemma and is full of glorious imagery.

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

British Underwater Image Festival results announced

The British Underwater Image Festival (BUIF) results were announced at a ceremony held at the Big Scuba Show in London, UK last weekend, reports Dive Magazine. Overall winner was an image by Simon Brown in which two Royal Navy Clearance divers simulate an underwater fight.

BUIF is now in its sixth year, and attracted hundreds of still and video entries. Congratulations to all the winners, especially the many Wetpixel members featured in the results.

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Full results of Our World Underwater 2011

The results of the Wetpixel/DivePhotoGuide Our World Underwater (OWU) competition were announced at the OWU show in Chicago, IL last weekend. Thousands of entries from novice to professional photographers from 19 countries competed in the sixth annual “Superbowl” of international underwater imagery. This year over $75,000 of world-class prizes were awarded.

Congratulations to Anatoly Beloshchin from Russia who won Best of Show for his 1st place image from the new Commercial, Conceptual and Fashion category. Public voting was held during the show for the crowd’s favorite image, with Canon kindly donating a camera body for the most-voted. This was won by Uwe Schmolke for his image “Prying eyes.” Of course, further congratulations to the many Wetpixel members featured in the results.

The winners were announced live on stage during the Our World Underwater film festival. The winning images are on the following pages and the winning videos will also be broadcast as episodes on the iTunes-featured DiveFilm HD Podcast Video. As with all UnderwaterCompetition.com events, 15% of entry proceeds will be donated to marine conservation efforts.

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

Triggerfish remote slave trigger launched

Wetpixel member Hedwig Dieraert has announced the launch of a remote slave trigger called the “triggerfish”. The unit attaches to a strobe via a Nikonos 5-pin cable and then allows for this strobe to be triggered by another strobe, typically the one on the camera, even at some distance from it.

The triggerfish is compatible with several different makes of strobe, and can be set for either manual or TTL trigger strobe settings. It is constructed of hard anodized aluminum, has a depth rating of 120 meters and is claimed to have no problems with triggering even in bright ambient light situations. We have a test unit coming soon and will provide a comprehensive review of its performance, so please check back here for details. Hedwig has them available now at 120 euro each, please contact him directly by email for more details or orders.

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Call for entries: British Wildlife Photography Awards

The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) is now accepting still and video entries for the 2011 competition. It has multiple categories available including animal portraits and behavior, invertebrates, coast and marine and video shorts. All entries must have been taken in the United Kingdom and the judges include marine and freshwater creatures in their definition of “animals”.

The competition is open for entries now, until 2 June. Entry detail are on the BWPA website.

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Call for video entries: Scuba Show 2011

The Scuba Show, to be held at the Long Beach Convention Center, California from 4 to 5 June, is seeking quality submissions for its continuous underwater film festival. Please note that this is not a competition but the videos selected will be played continuously during the event. Films chosen for screening will be paid an honorarium.

Deadline for submissions is March 31, 2011. Full details of the film festival are on the Scuba Show website.

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