The May/June edition of DIVE magazine has now been published for viewing online. Articles in this issue includes images from the Deep Indonesia contest, as well as from the University of Miami's contest held earlier this year. Douglas Seifert has two articles, the first a feature on whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), and the second exploring the recent events in the Komodo National Park. Tobias Friedrich explores the use of white backgrounds in underwater photography, and John Boyle presents the first of a series of interviews with underwater camera operators, this one being with Leandro Blanco. Lastly, there is a guide to diving in the Maldives.

DIVE magazine is available to view online for free after a simple registration.

Wetpixel Associate Editor Alex Mustard has completed an extensive review of the Olympus OM-D-E5 micro 4/3 camera. This is, he feels, an important camera regardless of whether you are currently shooting an SLR, compact or an alternative EVIL camera. He finds that, despite a somewhat disappointing housing and some issues with lag when shooting fast-moving subjects, that:

"The E-M5 is a fine camera with strengths well suited to underwater photography. Its image quality is certainly a match for the popular DX/APS-C SLRs and therefore is entirely appropriate for large prints, publication and almost any use. It is a good all-rounder, but its abilities in shooting in low light are particularly noteworthy, given its remarkable ability at high ISO and image stabilization."

Issue 23 of African Diver magazine is now available for download. Articles include a guide to diving the Azores and Aaron Gekoski is the featured photographer. The magazine features two conservation articles, one on shifting baseline syndrome and the other on a memorial for sharks and other marine animals that die in shark nets off the coast of KwaZulu Natal. The women and diving section features Georgina Jones who has a passion for the marine creatures of the Cape.

Africa Diver magazine is free to download in a pdf format

Wetpixel will be hosting its first Google+ live video hangout on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 9am PST / 12pm EST / 5pm BST. Joining us on the hangout will be Eric Cheng, Adam Hanlon, Alex Mustard, Berkley White (Backscatter), and Ryan Canon (Reef Photo & Video). We'll chat about exciting new camera gear that photographers are using underwater (some of which we are in the process of reviewing), and get everyone's opinions about the hottest dive destinations of 2012.

Check the front page of Wetpixel at 9am PST on June 5, and you'll see a link to the live broadcast, as well as a place where you can ask questions in real-time. Questions will be pulled from the comment stream on the hangout page, so you'll need to be logged into your Google+ account. See you on Tuesday!

Nikon announced the D800 SLR on 6 February 2012, with a shipping date of 20 March. Long-term speculation gave way to disbelief as the specifications of the camera were announced. It features the highest resolution of any current "35mm" camera, and this immediately gave rise to much discussion as to whether this would be useful for underwater use. With this in mind, Wetpixel purchased a camera body, and sought out the earliest possible opportunity to get the camera underwater.

This review is not intended to be exhaustive, and will focus primarily on camera performance underwater. The D800 shares many features with the D4 for which Wetpixel Associate Editor Alex Mustard has already written an excellent review which this review will frequently refer to. In addition, we plan to add updates to it in the future as we dive the camera in differing conditions so please keep checking back regularly for updates. Links to topics covered in this review so far: Introduction; The Nikon D800 body, controls and overview and Resolution, ISO and tonal range.

Alex Stoyda (homepage in Russian) has posted this fantastic image of thresher sharks (Alopias vulpinus) taken at Monad Shoal, Malpascua, Philippines in the Wetpixel Facebook group. He reports that photographic conditions were challenging as he was shooting using ambient light only at ISOs from 640 to 3200. The sharks were encountered at depths of 30m (90') and the lack of light made focusing very difficult. Alex says that he was forced to pre-focus at 2-3m and let the sharks swim into his focus range. However, on each early morning dive of all 5 days of his stay, Alex saw between 2-7 sharks simultaneously. (Image © Alex Stoyda).

Norbert Wu has posted a comprehensive illustrated report of a recent expedition that he has undertaken to Cat Island, Bahamas in search of oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) on to his blog. During the trip, Norbert and his party were "buzzed" by a 800lb (363kg) marlin whose arrival provoked the whitetips into a feeding behavior, with one actually tasting Norb's strobe. He concludes:

"Our second and final day of diving with the sharks was a tremendous success. We had six hours of diving with sharks until we called it a day. Being able to dive in clear, blue, oceanic water like this is always a treat, but being able to dive in this oceanic water with oceanic whitetip sharks (not to mention a blue marlin and silky sharks) was a rare present."

WildPhotos has announced that the keynote speaker for the 2012 event will be underwater photographer and photojournalist Brian Skerry. His talk is entitled "Creativity, Communication and Conservation, an Underwater View". The event is being held at the Royal Geographical Society, London, UK on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 October 2012. Other speakers include wildlife photographers Pete Cairns, Tui de Roy, Jasper Doest and Vincent Munier, amongst others.

Tickets to WildPhotos 2012 are on sale now.

Due to late cancellations, we now have three slots available for the Wetpixel Ultimate Whale Sharks Expedition from July 31 to Aug 4 this year. The trip is based around Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico, and is being led by Alex Mustard. If you have ever wanted to see whale sharks, this is your opportunity. To quote Wetpixel Publisher Eric Cheng:

"There's no other way to put it: Our first day of photographing the whale shark aggregation was absolutely epic. Within an hour of leaving port, we found a group of over 300 whale sharks".

If that sounds like something you would like to do, these last-minute spaces may be just the thing for you. Please contact Dan Baldocchi via email

The Shark Research and Conservation Program at the Cape Eluthera Institute in collaboration with Dr Edith Widder from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association has posted some amazing footage of sharpnose sevengill sharks and other creatures taken by a deep water baited video camera known as The Medusa in the Exuma Sound, Bahama. The Medusa is designed for in-situ non-invasive video documentation of creatures and water quality parameters, at a depth of 2000m. It records video in ultra-low light conditions with a highly sensitive camera and DVR recording system, lit by epoxy encapsulated LED arrays that give "far red" illumination at a wavelength of 690 nanometers. At the same time, the unit's data logger records conductivity, salinity, temperature, pressure, depth, and photosynthetically active radiation. Upon completion of its 72 hour filming operation, a weight is dropped via acoustic release and the Medusa returns to the surface.