All News

We have complete coverage from Antibes coming next week. This week we are at the DEMA show in Orlando unveiling our new website to the dive industry! Somogyi Gyula (HelioxFilm) was in Antibes representing DivePhotoGuide and Wetpixel this year. We decided to turn our booth into the DivePhotoGuide/Wetpixel Bar, and I've received a few drunken emails already proving that it ws a good idea
continue

The folks at DxO Labs have today announced the release date for their upcoming DxO Optics Pro v5 application, first unveiled a month ago. At that time, availability was predicted for Fall 2007. Today's news refines this somewhat, with release now predicted for the second half of November 2007
continue

Tehran - The mysterious "mass suicide" of 152 dolphins washed up on Iran's coast over the past month has alarmed environmentalists, with the blame being placed on regional fishing practices, officials said on Monday. At the end of September, 79 striped dolphins were found washed up off the port of Jask in southern Iran, and last week another 73 dolphins were found dead in the same area. Pictures of rows of dolphin corpses in the sand have been widely featured in Iranian newspapers, which said the dolphins had "committed suicide" - behaviour the animals have exhibited on occasions in the wild
continue

The oldest known fossils of jellyfish have been found in rocks in Utah that are more than 500 million years old, a new study reports. The fossils are an unusual discovery because soft-bodied creatures, such as jellyfish, rarely survive in the fossil record, unlike animals with hard shells or bones
continue

Fluorescent proteins found in nature have been employed in a variety of scientific research purposes, from markers for tracing molecules in biomedicine to probes for testing environmental quality. Until now, such proteins have been identified mostly in jellyfish and corals, leading to the belief that the capacity for fluorescence in animals is exclusive to such primitive creatures
continue

Coral reefs would receive stronger protections under a bill the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved today. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, the bill's sponsor and chairman of the committee, called coral reef preservation "vital" to national interests, especially for fishing, tourism and coastal communities. "Coral reef-related services and resources are worth billions of dollars each year to the U.S. economy and economies worldwide," he said. Coral reefs are critical for Hawai'i, which is host to more than 410,000 acres of living reef around the main islands alone, Inouye said. The bill, which would reauthorize a law enacted seven years ago, would make it illegal to damage corals. It would exempt scientific research, fishing, emergency responses and other activities authorized by federal and state laws
continue

After a long development cycle, we are incredibly proud to announce and unveil to the world, The New DivePhotoGuide.com! Since 2005 DivePhotoGuide has provided unique resources for underwater photographers & videographers of all levels from around the world. The new website is designed to be rich in content and to provide a platform for participation - in a very unique way
continue

As the federal government is set to finalize stricter limits on fishing the Gulf of Mexico's popular red snapper, fisheries regulators are under heightened pressure to rebuild at least four other beleaguered Gulf fish stocks in upcoming months. Though not as highly prized as snapper, greater amberjack, gray triggerfish and red and gag grouper have come under increased pressure from commercial and recreational anglers in recent years. A report this summer from the National Marine Fisheries Service made that clear, showing that all four of those species, along with red snapper, are subject to overfishing, meaning the species is being harvested too fast to reach optimal growth in the future. New federal fisheries laws require regulators to set new limits on fishing within a year after a species is subject to overfishing. In response, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is meeting this week in Biloxi, Miss., to consider new regulations on amberjack, grouper and triggerfish. The council is not expected to make a final regulation decision for any of the species this week, but will likely lay the groundwork for a determination by January. The new plans for the fish species will be one of the first proving grounds for a new federal fisheries law requiring regulators to monitor how the species is being harvested throughout the rebuilding plan. The law is meant to prevent the delays in management that led to a federal judge intervening on behalf of the red snapper earlier this year
continue

The Humane Society of the United States is urging organizers of the Destin Fishing Rodeo to permanently end the shark division event after the killing of an 844-pound mako shark. The Humane Society sent a letter to the Rodeo at the request of local citizens. Dr. John Grandy, senior vice president for wildlife and habitat protection at the Humane Society of the United States, said, uA?Spectacles such as the Shark Division of the Destin Fishing Rodeo are preying on the destructive reputation that sharks achieved in the movie Jaws, while promoting the idea that the lives of sharks don't matter
continue

A clam dredged up off the coast of Iceland is thought to have been the longest-lived animal discovered. Scientists said the mollusc, an ocean quahog clam, was aged between 405 and 410 years and could offer insights into the secrets of longevity. Researchers from Bangor University in north Wales said they calculated its age by counting rings on its shell. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest-lived animal was a clam found in 1982 aged 220 Unofficially, another clam - found in an Icelandic museum - was discovered to be 374-years-old, Bangor University said, making their clam at least 31 years older. The clam, nicknamed Ming after the Chinese dynasty in power when it was born, was in its infancy when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing plays such as Othello and Hamlet
continue