BBC Planet Earth/Blue Planet Deep Ocean Creatures
Filed under: Featured, Open Water, Reference, Report, Video
Meduza S3D Camera System
The Meduza digital imaging system is much more than just a camera; it’s a whole new way of seeing things differently. As a new piece of essential film making technology it aspires to provide more flexibility and control to the art of stereoscopic recording than any other system available. Light weight, compact and fully remote controllable the camera is designed to liberate the film maker and release the creative potential in this exciting new medium and across all areas film and television production. Sport, live action, drama, natural history both for the largest and smallest screens are all supported by Meduza. The Meduza is a completely new and original, built from the ground up camera system designed to provide the very specific tools needed to produce the highest level of matched stereoscopic … Read entire article »
Filed under: Promotions, Reefs, Report, Videography
Making it count – November 2011
Making It Count – November 2011 GIVE THANKS TO OUR OCEANS BY DONATING TO REEF By Paul Humann, REEF Co-Founder I am excited to announce the launch of our Winter Fundraising Campaign. During this holiday season, please consider a contribution to protect and conserve our marine ecosystems. Donate today using our secure online form, call REEF HQ at 305-852-0030, or mail in your donation to REEF, PO Box 246, Key Largo, FL 33037. Members who donate $250 or more will receive a limited, signed, and numbered print of a beautiful Peppermint Basslet. This year, we give thanks to all our supporters and donors who have made REEF’s programs in 2011 successful. Your donation supports a database of over 154,000 fish and invertebrate surveys, marine conservation research, Nassau Grouper and Goliath Grouper protections, lionfish invasion … Read entire article »
“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes”
Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling: “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 – before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land – all because of public pressure. Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum … Read entire article »
Filed under: Report
Peter Jackson Explains “Red Epic” 3D Camera Technology
Peter Jackson is shooting “The Hobbit” at 48 fps, in 3D. Peter is using the Red Epic to produce the 12/2012 version of the Hobbit in 3D. Watch the following video as Peter describes how he is using the Epic to produce The Hobbit. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Report, Videography
Taiwan Tightens Laws on Shark Finning, But Not Enough…
Laws Need Teeth Despite being top predators in marine ecosystems, sharks are more victims than anything else. Industrial fishing is killing millions of them each year, and some species have declined in numbers by more than 90% according to researchers (for example, hammerheads have declined by more than 99% in the Mediterranean). In some places, especially China, soup made with shark fins is considered a delicacy, so to feed that billion dollar industry, sharks are caught, their fins are cut off, and their bodies are thrown back into the water to die slowly. Is anyone doing anything about this before shark populations collapse and their extinction brings marine ecosystems more out of whack than they already are? The government of Taiwan is trying to do something, but let’s hope if won’t be … Read entire article »
Shark fin soup disappearing from the menu at Chinese weddings
Couples marrying in Hong Kong and mainland China swayed by conservation groups’ campaign to ban shark trade Justin McCurry in Hong Kong guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 November 2011 12.06 EST Chinese couples who have chosen Friday – 11/11/11 – one of the most auspicious days of the year to exchange their wedding vows, could be among the last to mark the occasion by feasting on shark fin soup, if environmental groups get their way. As the wedding parties scoop pieces of the slippery, glutinous flesh from bowls of broth, they will not just be respecting tradition; they will also be defying a growing campaign to ban the trade in shark fin that has now spread to its most lucrative market, Hong Kong. It is easy to see during a short walk through Sheung Wan, a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Report, Sharks
Conservationists Find it Hard to Dent Hong Kong’s Appetite for Shark Fin Soup
The Wrong Kind of Status Symbol In many parts of Asia, shark fin soup is considered a delicacy. It is traditionally served at weddings, but it’s also a way for the newly wealthy to show their status. The problem is, the number of people in Asia who are entering the middle-class and can now afford to eat more shark fin soup has grown exponentially in the past decades and – as Jaymi explains in her post about shark finning – there are between 73 and 100 million sharks killed every year, mostly just for their fins. Because sharks are top predators, they are crucial to oceanic ecosystems. Conservationists have long tried to either ban or at least regulate the practice, with various levels of success, and to convince people living where the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Conservation, Featured, Reference, Report, Sharks
Scuba Extreme Adventure Sports & Travel
Scuba Extreme Adventure Sports & Travel It is the second annual Small Business Saturday, come show support for your local dive shop and remember everyone who comes in gets a FREE gift from us to show our appreciation! We will be in the store until 3:30 this afternoon. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Diver, Events, Featured, Instructor, Open Water, Photography, Promotions, Reefs, Reference, Report, Specialties, Training, Travel, Videography, Wrecks
Fridays dives at Blue Grotto, Williston FL
Here are a few pictures from todays dive. The strobe connector from the Nikonos dual port to the hot shoe on the camera disconnected in the decent. No strobes were available to me during the dive. All shots are taken without strobe and with all natural light. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Adv. Open Water, Cavern, Diver, Events, Open Water, Photography, Report, Trip Report
Happy Thanksgiving from ScubaExtreme
Filed under: Featured, Open Water, Report, Training, Travel
Brinicle, Underwater Icicle, Captured Forming By Time-Lapse Camera
New video has been released that shows the formation of a brinicle on the ocean floor. Essentially an underwater icicle, the brinicle, or “finger of death,” freezes everything in its path. Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson filmed the stunning time-lapse clip below, which is apparently the first of its kind. Shot for the BBC’s “Frozen Planet,” the clip was recorded using a special time-lapse camera that caught the brinicle’s entire formation process. What’s really going on here is the freezing of warmer waters as sub-zero brine slowly sinks to the ocean floor. The temperature of this sinking brine, which was well below 0C, caused the water to freeze in an icy sheath around it.Where the so-called “brinicle” met the sea bed, a web of ice formed that froze everything it touched, including sea … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reference, Report, Videography
Wesley Chapel man gets presidential pardon
Dennis Bulin arrived in Zephyrhills as a skydiving bum in the late ’70s. He quickly moved to a new hobby, scuba diving. The inventor and entrepreneur combined those two passions into Zeagle Systems Inc., one of the leading scuba gear manufacturing companies and a pillar in the east Pasco business community. The company turned 32 this year. An owner of several patents, Bulin turned his company into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. It’s nothing short of a small business success story. This week Bulin, 61, celebrated another milestone in a lesser-known chapter of his life. Against the worst of odds, he received a full pardon from President Barack Obama. The rare decision from the president stemmed from a crime that happened more than two decades ago. Bulin was sentenced in March 1987 by a federal court … Read entire article »
Filed under: Report
ScubaExtreme Sports and Travel Black Friday Deals
Here is our Black Friday Cyber Monday Special Email…If you aren’t on our email list check it out on our website, www.scubaextreme.com email us to be put on the list jason@scubaextremellc.com, give us a call at (904) 269-8021 or come in to find out more about the specials! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Events, Promotions, Reference, Report
Blue Grotto, Williston Fl. 11/27/2011
For those who are in reach of this dive site, a team of Divetalking divers are heading to Blue Grotto Sunday Nov 27, 2011 to enjoy the peace and the visibility that come to the springs this time of year. If you are available and willing to dive with us, please plan on joining us this Sunday Nov 27, 2011 at Blue Grotto in Williston Fl. We should be arriving shortly after 8AM. Look for the Black Toyota Tundra with the messed up bumpber. The Divetalking team will be setting up and hitting the spring as soon as eveyone present is suited up and ready to go. We plan to perform a couple of dives, shoot some film, hit the bottom and get narced out on Nitrox. If it’s been awhile … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cavern, Diver, Events, Featured, Master Diver, Open Water, Photography, Promotions, Report, Trip Invitations, Videography