The Ocean Conservancy Wins Shrimp Moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico
The Ocean Conservancy recently notched a major victory when it secured a moratorium capping federal shrimp permits at 2003 levels in the overfished Gulf of Mexico. The shrimp fishery has historically been “overcapitalized.” That is, it has too many boats in the fishery causing negative environmental and economic impacts. Shrimpers, for instance, discard four pounds of unwanted fish (what we call “bycatch” ) for every one pound of shrimp they catch. The win effectively ends the “open access” nature of the fishery and is the crucial first step toward a comprehensive solution to conservation problems that have plagued the Gulf. The moratorium goes into effect October 26, 2006.

Serious Threat to Sharks Defeated in European Parliament 
Denying recommendations that would further weaken seriously flawed shark-finning regulations, The European Parliament—spurred by The Ocean Conservancy and other member groups of the Shark Alliance coalition—has called instead for improvements to such rules based on science. The decision reflects the growing awareness of the plight of these vulnerable species and the public’s will to safeguard them. Learn more about The Ocean Conservancy’s efforts to protect sharks >>

Wild Salmon Infested By Lice From Farmed Salmon
Aquaculture, also known as fish farming, is causing serious threat to populations of wild fish through disease, genetic compromise, and now parasites. It seems that lice that prosper in the closed confines of fish pens have escaped and have infested populations of juvenile wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Juveniles, unlike the haler adults, are particularly susceptible to these parasites, killing many of the young salmon before they have a chance to spawn. Learn more about the problem of sea lice, aquaculture and wild salmon >>

Bush Administration Seeks Ban On Bottom Trawling
Bottom trawling is a fishing technique in which a net, often strung between two powerful boats, is dragged across the ocean bottom destroying most everything in its path, including important fish habitats. To address the problem, President Bush has proposed banning bottom trawling in poorly regulated areas. In a statement, the White House said the State Department “is directed to … establish rules based on sound science … and to end destructive fishing practices, such as unregulated bottom trawling, explosives and chemicals that destroy the long-term productivity of ecosystems such as seamounts, corals, and sponge fields.” Read more about President Bush’s proposed bottom trawl ban >>

Iceland To Resume Whaling
In direct contradiction to international law, Iceland’s Fisheries Minister, Einar Kristinn Gudfinnson, announced recently that his nation would reopen commercial hunting for fin and minke whales, industries that have been closed since 1990. Read more about Iceland’s plans to open whaling >>

From LAUPS member John Gonda:

I returned about a week ago from Guadeloupe Island aboard the Ocean Odyssey. The first 2 days seemed pretty bleak - we had only one shark the first day which only made a few passes between 5-6pm. I was lucky enough to be in the cage during that time and got a few shots. Lighting was lousy and the picures were less than ideal. The second day wasn't any better - we had a large female show up around 9am which only 2 people saw from the cages. I spent hours freezing in boredom the rest of the day waiting for another to no avail.

The third day made up for the whole trip! We had a 16 foot female named "Mystery" show up at approximately 9am. She made continual close passes and went for both hanging baits almost continuously for the next 3 1/2 hours! I finally left the cage after 3 hours after I filled a 6-gig card and my battery went dead on my D200. A 12 foot male ("Shredder") showed up right before "Mystery" left and he hung around on and off for the rest of the day. Great end to the trip.

My worrying about the crossings from San Diego worked out as well. We had relatively smooth seas in both directions. We also had a Shark researcher join us for last evening who gave a lecture and slide show about his work. He's tagging the sharks with with GPS locators and tracking them worldwide among other things. He said they've identified and named 72 individual White Sharks at Guadeloupe.

All shots were taken with a D200 in an Ikelite housing using a 17-35mm lens behind an 8-inch dome.  I didn't have a zoom gear so all shots were taken at about 28mm.  I used a single strobe on a few of them.

John Gonda's Great White Album

Tip of the Month

Firmware updates are important!

Today’s digital cameras, scanners and printers offer us the opportunity to update and improve the features through firmware updates.  Frustrated with slow start-up and iffy focus?  Try a firmware update to improve your performance.   Every day engineers from the manufacturers are correcting faults, improving performance and adding features to today’s digital equipment. 

How do you know if you need an update?  In the setup menu of your camera find the info icon and your firmware version.  Note the version of the firmware which is currently installed in your camera.  Next we’ll compare your camera’s firmware version versus the latest update available from the manufacturer by visiting the appropriate website (some are listed below).  If you need to update it’s quite simple.  In most cases all you do is download the update to your computer.  Insert your camera’s memory card (formatted before hand) into your card reader.  Drag the program from your hard drive to the memory card.  Insert the memory card into the camera (power off).  Turn the camera on and follow the icons… new firmware detected (OK) install (yes)… that’s it!

We currently recommend that you check your firmware monthly for the latest updates and revisions.  It takes 10 minutes to update… you’ll love the difference!

Paul’s Photo will be offering FREE updates on Nikon D70, D200 and D2x digital camera during the month on November.  Bring your camera with a full battery and we’ll fix you up.  It takes 10 minutes.  Amazing!

Canon Updater

Nikon Updater

Olympus Updater

Internationally renowned marine artist Ron Steven, better known as “Rogest”, has created a new piece of art entitled “Break the Chain – Keep Dolphins Free”. For the next two years, this print will be available only in the Cayman Islands. Rogest has donated the rights to the work to the Keep Dolphins Free in the Cayman Islands (KDFCI).

“As an artist, I love to paint; when I paint I am always learning by what I have done in the past. For me it is the same with the environment and all that inhabit it: we can learn from our past and strive to be better ambassadors for the planet and all of nature's inhabitants in the future. I created the "Break the Chain” painting to help support the cause of freedom, compassion, caring and responsibility that we all must share as humans. Please let’s not make more facilities that need to be filled with critters from the wild; let’s keep them free. Break the Chain ...”

The original painting will be auctioned on January 26, 2007, during the silent auction at the International Film Festival at Grand Cayman’s Marriott Resort. Rogest uses a unique Australian aboriginal style of painting called dot art, combining vibrant acrylic colors with sand and seawater to give texture to the painting.

We've got more used gear for sale on the classifieds page, take a look.

OK, sorry to be late with this....

The winning images from this year's LAUPS International Competition are now posted here.

In addition, the text page listing the winners has been updated with judge's comments and bios.

Still to come: Prizes!

Thanks as always to our sponsors, visit them on the links to the left!

The white shark at the Monterey Bay Aquarium continues to do well, and it has been joined by some dorado (aka mahimahi or dolphinfish, a fast growing fish that's sustainably fished). There's also a mola mola in the tank for those looking for great photo subjects!

News from the aquarium

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November 7 at the Sea Divers meeting, LAUPS member Linda Blanchard will give a presentation about "Sex in the Sea". Linda Blanchard, Laboratory Director at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor, current President of the Orange County Underwater Photographer's Society and a long-time underwater photographer, will present her entertaining and educational program "Sex and the Sea."  It is everything you wanted to know about Sex in the Sea, but were afraid to ask!  With a program title like that, it has to be good!  

Friends…
High school photography is back in vogue!
New programs are springing up all around the South Bay and it’s up to Paul’s Photo to help get them going…..
 
When I need help I often turn to you for help and your generosity has been astounding!!!
 
We need 35mm manual film cameras…
Similar to: Canon AE-1 & AE-1p, Canon FTb, Minolta SRT, Olympus OM-1 &2
Nikon FM & FE, Pentax K1000 & Spotmatic
We need 50mm manual focus lenses for above as well!!
 
I know you can sell them on ebay for $50 or $60 but let’s help some local kids!
The cameras I can pay you money ($20-30 each)….
We’ll service them and spiff them up for the kids (costs me $50-60)
And be able to sell them to the students for a little over $100!
The schools don’t have the money to service the cameras so donating them directly doesn’t work
Also, the kids need to “buy into” the program and have the responsibility of owning their own camera!
 
IF you have large format cameras, medium format cameras, darkroom equipment or studio lighting
The schools are looking for those items as well for their program and are accepting DONATIONS!!!!
 
Let me know if you have questions…
Thanks for helping me get the kids going in photography!
 
Mark Comon
Paul's Photo, Inc
23845 Hawthorne Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505
www.paulsphoto.com
 

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions are proud of their reputation for exceptional diving and extraordinary service. It is their attention to detail that sets them apart. Spoilsport’s specially designed itineraries provide more diving and more relaxed diving. Quickly you will notice there is no rush or limit placed on your dive time. You benefit from the industry’s best trained and qualified staff. Seven of the eleven person crew are dive masters or instructors.

The three night ‘Fly Dive Cod Hole’ expedition departs Cairns every Monday and offers prime Ribbon Reef dive sites which suit every type of diver. The four night ‘Fly Dive Coral Sea’ expedition departs Cairns every Thursday and is geared towards the more adventurous diver and offers great diving in the remote Coral Sea. Both departures include a spectacular low-level reef flight just 180 meters above the Great Barrier Reef. The seven night ‘Coral Sea Safari’ expedition provides a combination of both three and four night expeditions and offers you the best Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea diving with no repeat dive sites except the world famous Cod Hole.

Thanks to Mike Ball for sponsoring the LAUPS and our International Competition, year after year.

The winners of this year's LAUPS International Competition have been posted here.

Winning images, judges comments, and info on our judges will be posted this Saturday, 10/21.

Prizes will be announced in the near future. Thanks as always to our sponsors, visit them on the links to the left!

Club meeting is coming up this week, Wednesday 10/18!

This will be a great meeting for anyone who wants to see a lot of underwater photography.

We'll be judging photos from the LAUPS California Shootout on the Sundiver. We'll also be judging the October club minicomp (theme: "Shells with living animals").

And, as a special treat, we'll view a slideshow of all the digital entries from the 44th LAUPS International Competition!

For entries in the shootout, please name your files:

0610_shoot_novice_image-title_your-name.jpg or
0610_shoot_open_image-title_your-name.jpg

For entries in the minicomp, please name your files:

0610_novice_image-title_your-name.jpg or
0610_open_image-title_your-name.jpg

See you there!

What a day! The good ship Sundiver departed Alamitos Bay Landing promptly at 7 am on Saturday, September 23. Weather clear, sunny and warm.

The first stop for our jolly “limited-load” group of 18 was oil platform Eureka. This rig is out in the middle of the channel in some 600 (or more) feet of ocean. So, hardly any of us explored the bottom. Actually, the best part of the dive for videographers and wide-angle shooters was sea lion action which took place in shallow water. There must have been at least a dozen of the fun-loving beasts surrounding and buzzing us. For those shooting macro, the platform legs were totally covered in growth all the way to the surface. Anyone going down to 95 feet or deeper was treated to open metridia, the snow-white anemones which blossom with a slight current such as we had.

The plan was to stop next at a well-known giant black seabass spot just west of Long Point, Catalina. Unfortunately, the unusual wind had stirred up the water to the point that photography was out. So we proceeded along the island toward the west end for the last two dives.

The number two dive site was Little Gibraltar, a good sized reef jutting out from shore. Here, some of us did, in fact, see a giant black seabass. One diver got within about five feet of the beauty, but it was camera shy and went off stage. There was an abundance of the normal Catalina sea life to keep shutters clicking and tape rolling.

Our last dive of the day was at Skylight Cove. Here there was more kelp and loads of garibaldi and sheephead in your face.

You will be able to see all the wonders of our shootout dive at the October meeting. That’s when members can show their best still and video results in competition. Be there!

The Sundiver is a well-managed dive boat with a crew that couldn’t have been more helpful and courteous. The one drawback for photographers is the limited seating in the salon and minimal table space for cameras. Our group of 18 filled the cabin. None the less, we are making plans to charter the Sundiver next year for several trips. But on those, we’re going to limit the load even more to 16 divers. It’s been a few years since the club has scheduled more than one local dive trip per season. This is great! Keep tuned to the LAUPS web site for dive news.



Photos by Kelly Bracken




Photo by Joe Bellanger

Leslie Harris, our sponsor from the Los Angeles Natural History museum, is on an expedition to French Frigate Shoals, one of the atolls in the newly created Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. The webpage for the expedition is now online:

CReefs Cruise — CReefs Cruise Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Rob Sheppard, editor of Outdoor Photographer magazine, is teaching a series of Photoshop classes at Paul's Photo. Next class is November 18th, "Making the Best Print".

More Details:

Paul's Photo, Inc. - Saturday Classes

Brad Brown, of Monterey Diving, has an article at Backscatter reviewing focus lights. Take a look:

Backscatter - Learn - Articles - Why I Love My Focus Light

Photographer Jean-Sebastien Morisset has written an article on creating floats to neutralize his camera in the water. Take a look:

MVPix.com: MVPix Photographers > Add-on Floats for Housing with Macro Setup

Club member Randy Harwood has updated his web page, take a look!

LAUPS members Scott Webb, Margaret Webb, and Jim Lyle just got back from diving in La Paz at Club Cantamar. Here's Jim's trip report.

The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium has some hatchery-bred white abalone on display. This is a rare chance to see this endangered species.

L.A. Ships-to-Reefs Presentation
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
October 8, 2006-11:00 a.m.

All hands on deck!
The Sunken Treasures Society of Los Angeles is holding a general information presentation about their current efforts spearheading the task of sinking retired military warships off the near shore waters of L.A. County.

Sinking ships to create cultured reefs, future marine habitats and interesting dive sites is not new to California or L.A. The sinking of the Palawan off Redondo Bch. in 1977 is a perfect example, as is the destroyer escort Yukon that is bringing 4.5 million dollars annually into the San Diego economy since its sinking in 2000. The non profit all volunteer STSLA will inform you of the latest ‘scuttlebutt’ about how you can help out, and get involved with this important new project. Let’s Get your ship together!
For more information write: harveys@survivalstrategies.com, or call 1.818.339.2149.
We hope to see you there:

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
3720 Stephen M. White Drive
San Pedro, California USA 90731
(310) 548-7562 FAX (310) 548-2649
TDD (310) 548-2052
email: info@cabrilloaq.org
www.cabrilloaq.org

Scubapro® Recalls MK 20 Scuba Regulators for Service

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Scubapro® MK 20 First Stage Regulators
Units: About 48,500 units
Manufacturer: Scubapro® USA, of El Cajon, Calif.
Hazard: Over-tightening of the Yoke or Din retainer during annual servicing of these regulators could result in a stress crack and failure of the regulator. If this occurs during a dive, air supply could be interrupted, posing a drowning hazard. Incidents/injuries: No injuries or underwater incidents have been reported. Scubapro® USA has received eight reports of units that failed after being serviced.
Description: The recall involves first stage regulators that are marked with the Scubapro brand and identified as the MK20.
Sold at: Authorized Scubapro® dealers nationwide from January 1996 through December 2001 for about $260.
Manufactured in: Italy and United States
Remedy: Scubapro® USA has been providing a service upgrade kit via the authorized dealer network since May 2005 which contains a Yoke or Din retainer that prohibits over-tightening during annual service. Consumers can easily identify if the service upgrade has been completed by counting the vents on the plastic saddle located on the
regulator. If the service upgrade has not been completed, the consumer should bring the regulator to any authorized Scubapro® dealer to have the service upgrade completed free of charge.
Consumer Contact: For assistance in locating the nearest authorized Scubapro® dealer or for more information, contact Scubapro® USA toll-free at (800) 731-6685 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or go to the firm’s Web site at www.scubapro-uwatec.com.

Leslie Harris is our sponsor from the Natural History Museum, getting us our great meeting room. She has worked with the Museum's polychaete collection since 1988. Ms Harris is an eminent authority on the marine flora and fauna of California, and has been instrumental in the acquisition of major private polychaete collections for the museum. She is one of the founders of the Southern California Association of Marine Invertebrate Taxonomists.

From Leslie:

I'm off on a research cruise to the northwest Hawai'ian islands.  This is the area recently designated as a national monument & placed out of bounds.  It's not only no take, it's no visit as well.  Our study will focus on the small inverts associated with coral reefs which are pretty much ignored in favor of the bigger or charismatic animals.  Nearly all studies look at vertebrates, corals, fish, large crusties & shellies.  You know, the boring stuff..... 

My job will be to live sort & photograph the small stuff.  Perfect excuse to get a new camera!  And it's tax deductible, too.   In the last two weeks I've bought a canon 5D, canon 100 macro, a very specialized lens called the canon MPE 65 which only focuses at 1X-5X, a Sigma 24-70 (had to save money somewhere), canon's macro twin-light, plus a focusing rail, microscope adapter, and all the usual paraphenalia you need with a completely new outfit.  I also needed to get a sturdy repro stand but I ran out of money; fortunately I was able to borrow one for the cruise.  Last item was industrial rubber dampening pads to counteract the constant vibration from the ship.  Matt Segal was nice enough to come over for a few hours to introduce me to the wonderful new world of Canon as opposed to my previous nikons & sony.

We were fortunate to get a permit.  Research there is very tightly regulated.  I leave for Honolulu on saturday to help with the prep & loading (I'm in charge of the shipboard lab); the ship leaves port on 6 Oct & returns on 28 Oct; I stay for another couple of days to help with the aftermath.  Ship's crew is about 20 with about 20 scientists.  There's a big educational component as well.  We'll have some education/outreach specialists producing daily web updates & streaming podcasts.  The 3 sites are:
http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/missions/welcome.html
http://www.hawaiianatolls.org
http://www.creefs.org (will be up and running by the start of the cruise)

Our friends up at NCUPS are accepting photo entries for their SEA Photo Contest until October 15th. Rules are at their site.

Sea Challengers publications has 3 new titles out for nudibranch fans:

Caribbean Sea Slugs
2006. Angel Valdes, Jeff Hamann, David Behrens & Anne DuPont

Opisthobranquios de Mexico
2006. Alicia Hermosillo, David Behrens & Eduardo Rios Jara

2007 Nudibranch Calendar
2007. Dave Behrens, Sea Challengers & John H. Moore, Divebums