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BLUE Ocean Film Festival has named Dr. Carl Safina as recipient of the 2010 Sylvia Earle award. The award is given annually to people who have shown outstanding advocacy for the worlds oceans. Dr. Safina has written five books about the nature of our relationship with nature, and is president of the Blue Ocean Institute. The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held at the Golden State Theater, Monterey, California on 28 August during the BLUE Ocean Film Festival.

The Census of Marine Life has released an inventory of species distribution and diversity in key global ocean areas. Scientists combined information collected over centuries with data obtained during the decade-long Census to create a roll call of species in 25 biologically representative regions, from the Antarctic through temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic. This information will form a baseline against which changes can be measured.

Rafa Herrero of Aquawork has shot some amazing footage of a male pilot whale carrying a dead new-born calf. This behaviour has until now only been observed in females. The male carried the calf for several days. The footage was shot around Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Vidal Martin, a scientist who has been working with the whales in the area for 25 years explains:

"Although infrequent, it is sometimes possible to observe mothers carrying their dead calves in their mouths for days or even weeks. The interesting thing in this case is that it is a mature male who transports the body of the calf and to date this behavior had not been documented. Pilot whales live in family groups and the majority of the groups' members remain together for life. These groups, of sometimes up to 14 animal, have a matrilineal structure, with several females and their lineage making the social nucleus. In these groups, there often are one or two adult non-breeding males whose function is not clear, but due to their bigger size may be for defence." (Translated from the original Spanish.)

DiveFilm HD has released two new podcasts. First, featuring strange critters and interesting shark species is Bent Jørgensen's "Ocean Life". This short video produced by Chilbal Film is a trailer for a three-part educational television series on the marine life of Denmark.

Second is Jon Shaw's "Fish Rock Cave, Australia" which is about diving this interesting cave site surrounded by abundant sea life off the coast of New South Wales. DiveFilm HD Video podcast is produced in association with Wetpixel, and is a featured podcast available for free at iTunes.

Apple has announced the release of RAW Compatibility Update 3.3 for Aperture and iPhoto. This will add RAW format compatibility for the following cameras: Canon PowerShot SX1 I; Olympus E-PL1; Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2; Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10; Samsung NX10; Sony Alpha DSLR-A390; Sony Alpha NEX-3; Sony Alpha NEX-5.

The update is available via system update or support.

Issue 12 of African Diver magazine is now available for free download. This issue has articles about the Red Sea and the cold but interesting waters of the South African Cape coast. In addition, it features the fishing grounds of Algoa Bay and an article about unique marine conservation efforts in Kenya. Mike Westcott is the featured photographer, and space is also devoted to images from the Sony Winter Shootout.