The Digital Shootout Bonaire 2008 and Wetpixel.com are proud to announce the winners of this year’s shootout photo and video contest. 58 participants competed in four still categories and a single video category, and winners won a variety of prizes from our generous sponsors, including dive travel, underwater camera housings, and more.

We’d like to congratulations all of the winners and contestants this year. And as Berkley White says each year before announcing the winners, “We’re all winnes here. Some of us are just prize-challenged.”

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. 

Continue reading for full contest details.

Nikon has announced the D700 SLR, a 12-megapixel full-frame camera that uses the same sensor as does the D3. The D700 also has a built-in flash, a sensor cleaning feature, and can shoot up to ISO 25,600. It shoots at 5 frames a second, but can be boosted to 8 frames a second with the use of an external battery pack.

DPReview hosts a visual comparison of the D300, D700 and D3. Underwater photographers in our forums are already speculating as to whether the D700 will drop into D300 housings. Many are also excited by the D700’s large viewfinder.

The D700 retails at $2,999.

Ikelite has informally announced the Ikelite SubStrobe DS-160, which replaces the DS-125 in their product line. The DS-160 features 160 watt-seconds of power, a built-in 5-watt LED modeling light, TTL plus 10 power levels, 1.5-second recycle time, and 225 full-power flashes per charge. It uses the same battery pack, charger, sync connection, and mounting system as the current SubStrobe DS-125.  The DS-125 will continue to be available while supplies last.

The DS-160 is available for pre-order and will begin shipping in limited quantities in late July. Full specs and photos will be available on Ikelite’s website later this month.

Be sure to follow Drew Wong and team, who are posting almost-daily updates from the annual sardine run / ocean safari in South Africa!

I popped up for a breather and then the skipper dropped me back onto the action… literally! I landed on a 2.5m bronze whaler which swam right between my legs (shrinkage and crapping are words that described my immediate reaction) and then I saw gannets and sharks chasing a football size baitball of mackerel from all sides. I’d never seen such incredible pandemonium before.

Related: Wetpixel’s photos from Sardine Run 2006.

Please join me and the rest of the Wetpixel team in wishing a happy birthday to Matt Segal! For those of you who don’t know Matt, he’s the young administrator (and underwater photographer) that keeps Wetpixel running behind the scenes. Anyone who has sent a support request into Wetpixel has probably (eventually) gotten a reply back from Matt, and he’s been an absolutely invaluable part of the Wetpixel team.

We’re glad that Matt has added another candle to his birthday cake. Maybe this year, he won’t get carded while trying to get into DEMA.

Professional underwater photographer and good friend Tony Wu has written a post on his personal blog about shooting underwater with compact cameras. Tony took a Sony W300 down for some dives and set it on underwater white-balance mode.  He managed to get some fantastic images!

... whatever the camera is doing, it clearly works. What this means in practical terms is that with just your compact digital camera and a normal housing, you can take nice, colourful photos. There’s no need to get fancy or invest in anything else.

Despite the recent passing of the Shark Conservation Act, sharks remain threatened. The Star Island Yacht Club Shark Tournament in Montauk, NY is currently in progress, running from June 12-14, with a prize pool of more than $1,000,000 for the catching and killing of the largest sharks.

DivePhotoGuide has issued a call to attend the event on Saturday, June 14 to “broadcast [the coverage] to the world in efforts to create more awareness and help save our sharks.” Also scheduled on Saturday from 4-5PM is a Humane Society rally protesting the killings. Visit DivePhotoGuide for more information about the event…

Misool Eco Resort is now raising funds to sponsor a team of local Rangers with their own speedboat to patrol and protect a 200 sq km Marine Protected Area (MPA) around Batbitim, their resort island.

Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy have offered to provide training to the Rangers so they can patrol as well as collect baseline data on turtle nesting beaches, reef health, and migration patterns. The Ranger’s base will be at Misool Eco Resort, and with plans to establish posts on Kalig and Gelu. These Rangers will be the vanguard of local conservation, enriching our understanding of this ecosystem while safeguarding their grandchildren’s inheritance.

Misool Eco Resort is holding a donation raffle to help reach their goal. If you’d like to help protect their MPA, please head on over to their news page, which has detailed information about the MPA.

The Shark Conservation Act of 2008 was approved yesterday by the House Natural Resources Committee. This is a step in the right direction for protecting sharks worldwide.

The Act would strengthen the U.S. finning ban by closing enforcement loopholes, encouraging other countries to adopt shark conservation programs, and establishing a process that would ultimately allow for sanctions against countries that do not. The prohibition on the removal of shark fins at sea, added through the amendment, is the most reliable means of ensuring a finning ban accomplishes the intended goal. A “fins-attached” strategy is also key to helping scientists and enforcement agents determine the species of sharks retained in fisheries, data that are essential for assessing populations and enforcing species-specific protections. - Ocean Conservancy