Finalists have been announced for the 2009 Raja Ampat Entrance Tag Design Contest, hosted at Wetpixel.com. Vote for your favorite image or design—the winning image will appear on Raja Ampat’s 2009 park tag!

Last year’s winning image, a pygmy seahorse with its tail wrapped around a gorgonian branch, was shot by Alex Mustard, who won a week-long dive trip to Raja Ampat in addition to having his image attached to every diver who visited the park in 2008. The winner of the 2009 tag contest will win a week at Raja Ampat’s original eco-resort at Kri (donated by Papua Diving).

Public voting ends at 11:59PM, September 25, 2008 (Pacific time). Be sure to log in to Wetpixel before you vote for your favorite image. We’ll be awarding a free 1-year subscription of Wetpixel Quarterly to a random voter, but you must be logged in to play.

Wetpixel friend Tony Wu has sent in an update to his fourth week of encounters with the humpback whales of Tonga:

After a nice spell of weather at the beginning of the week, a big rainstorm hit on Wednesday evening, and the weather really deteriorated again this week on Friday. We were out on the water, getting beaten up by 20+ knot winds, criss-crossing chop, whitecaps, tall swells and occasional cold, pelting rain. Not nice.

It is, of course, possible to go look for whales when it’s dark, grey and raining. It’s the winds that really make things difficult though, especially if you’re in a small speedboat. Within a few minutes, you feel both shaken and stirred, with a good measure of scrambled tossed in. The splash and spray kicked up by the winds gets in your eyes. It’s difficult to see your hand in front of your face, much less detect the subtle nuances of whale breath...

Wetpixel’s Eric Cheng and Mike Veitch have both arrived in Yap to help host Manta Fest 2008. Great weather has greeted us with sunny skies and flat seas - this is Eric’s second visit to the island and a return to home for Mike who lived here for close to 3 years before relocating to Bali.

The festivities of Manta Fest 2008 kicked off tonight with a welcome cocktail and introduction of the week’s activities by Bill Acker, the founder of Manta Ray Bay Hotel and a legend of Micronesian diving. It also gave a chance for Mike and Eric to introduce themselves and explain a little about what they will be doing over the coming two weeks. The schedule for tomorrow’s first official Manta Fest day was introduced, and the morning dives will be at the famous Goofnuw Channel…

The 9th annual San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition (UFEX) was two weekends ago, August 22 and 23, at the magnificent Qualcomm Hall auditorium, with its state of the art digital projection system.  Thirty two of the 60 films submitted made the final cut, all but five in high definition.  Attendance numbered over 900 for the two nights.

The first exhibition was held in 2000, featuring short videos limited to 5 minutes maximum, with no entry fees and no prizes except for the distinction of having your film selected by the panel of three independent judges.  The same principles are in force today, as the show has become international in scope with near sellout crowds…

On September 2, 2008, the New York Underwater Photographic Society (NYUPS) will host an informal presentation by society president Jason Heller on “Digital Workflow Basics.” Topics may include a comparison between ”RAW vs. JPEG, whether megapixels really matter, histograms and white balance, color space, cataloging, editing, and the best options for backups.”

The event will be held at 7PM at the Arctica Bar & Grill in New York, NY. Admission is free by - to learn more or confirm your attendance, continue to view event details…

TheUnderwaterChannel.tv is an online underwater on-demand TV show created by Nicholas Claxton that has relaunched today, September 1, for the 2008 season. Dedicated to ”exploring the mysteries and the marvels of the underwater world,” it is produced by divers and conservationists, and involves Julie Anderson of the Shark Angels, and Wetpixel’s own Dr. Alex Mustard for the monthly program “Splash!” and a “Creature Feature” look at underwater species, respectively.

Continue reading for the full press release with more information, or continue to TheUnderwaterChannel.tv to begin watching…

Wetpixel’s Eric Cheng and Matt Segal returned recently from a trip to Seattle to dive with and photograph sixgill sharks.

Travis told us that sixgill sharks typically show up “between 9:30pm and 10:30pm.” And it is certainly not a sure thing. The last expedition had been virtually skunked, with only one brief encounter over three nights of diving.

We were lucky. Just as the sun was going down, multiple sixgill sharks appeared on camera. They were actually quite difficult to see in the video feed beamed from the site, but the hypnotic waving of their long, ribbon-like tails provided enough for a clear ID.

Check out the full trip report for photos, videos, and more.

Nikon has announced the D90 digital SLR, a 12-megapixel camera capable of shooting at 4.5 fps. The new D90 emphasizes Live View mode, and is the first SLR capable of shooting video. Video is 720p high definition, and the camera can shoot for 5 minutes at a time. The D90 also feature face-recognition and support for the new GPS Unit GP-1, an unobtrusive hotshoe attachment that allows the camera to store GPS information in each image’s metadata.

It is still unclear whether the D90 will fit into any existing underwater housings, but Wetpixel members are already discussing the possibility in the forum.

Wetpixel.com is proud to host the 2009 Raja Ampat Entrance Tag Design Contest. If you have the perfect photo that captures the excitement and beauty of Raja Ampat diving, enter this contest for a chance to have your image printed on the 4,000 park tags that will be attached BCDs of visiting divers! In addition, the first place winner will receive a 7-day, 6-night, all-inclusive dive trip* to Raja Ampat’s original eco-resort at Kri, kindly donated by Papua Diving.

To enter the contest, submit up to 2 photos or graphic designs per contestant before midnight on Thursday, August 28, 2008. After finalists are chosen, you –- the public -– will vote for the best image or design until September 25, 2008. Winners will be announced on October 1, 2008. 

Reminder: the deadline is TONIGHT at midnight PST!

Continue reading for full contest details.

Come photograph sharks and dolphins in the Bahamas with Wetpixel aboard the M/V Shearwater!  We have 4 Bahamas expeditions in 2009, including a winter shark expedition, two May oceanic white-tip expeditions, and one summer sharks & dolphins expedition. Jim Abernethy’s shark expeditions are well-known in the industry, and Wetpixel expeditions in the past have always proven to be productive, photographically.

See the full entry for trip dates and booking details. Remember to book early—these trips fill up quickly.