Waves of Southern Ocean

South from Dave otto

Filmed in Storm Bay, Tasmania.
Tasmania is an island State off the South Eastern tip of Australia.
The surf here can be as good as anywhere; from the wild and powerful swells of the west coast - uninterrupted all the way to South Africa - to the refined swells of the East breaking at reefs, points and river mouths from one end of the coast to the other, and then there's the perfect points of Storm Bay.
Clean waves can also be found at white sandy beaches all around the State; somewhere is always offshore.

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

Free wheeling

'Creating the Spectacle!' is a ground breaking series of live art and film events that record an underwater wheelchair as it flies through the water with its human occupant. 

In 'Part I - Finding Freedom', The underwater wheelchair enables Sue Austin to go on a gentle, dream like exploration of an exotic underwater world.

Through unexpected juxtapositions, this work aims to excite and inspire by creating images that transform preconceptions.

See 'Part II - Finding the Flame' on : http://wearefreewheeling.co.uk

Artwork shines light on satellite imagery

Andreas Gursky is exhibiting a new photo series “Ocean",
pursueing his play on photography’s claim for the depiction of reality.
In his six-part series Ocean I-VI (2009-2010), Gursky used high-definition satellite photographs
which he augmented from various picture sources on the Internet.

From Stuff

An international artwork described as defining New Zealand's place in the world, the large-scale photograph Ocean III by contemporary German artist Andreas Gursky will take its place in the Auckland Art Gallery's public collection this weekend.
It will be the first of his pieces to enter a public collection in New Zealand.

Ocean III is a view of the Pacific Ocean that measures 4.5m long and 2.5m high.
It is the largest in a series of six photographs - one of two featuring New Zealand.
Gursky worked with high-definition satellite photographs that normally focus on the earth's landmasses.
Due to the absence of adequate mapping of the world's oceans, he recreated ocean zones himself after consulting shoal maps.

Extended Ocean, 2011
A image from Andreas Gursky's Ocean series, with white area added to the sides of the image and then put through Content-Aware Fill 

According to the exhibition text: "In their darkly nuanced surfaces, he has worked to reconcile the division between the machine eye and the human eye, continuing the debates and practices begun in the nineteenth century regarding photography and the issue of artistic expression versus objective science."

Gallery director Chris Saines says Gursky is a "giant in the contemporary art world".
"We are tremendously excited to be able to represent the work of such an important
international artist, even more so given the particular nature of its subject, which in one way serves to represent our place in the Pacific like no other work in a New Zealand public collection.

Gursky used high-definition satellite photographs which he augmented from various picture sources on the Internet.

The satellite photos are restricted however to exposures of sharply contoured land masses.
Consequently the transitional zones between land and water – as well as the oceans themselves – had to be generated completely by artificial means.
At second glance one realises however that Gursky’s interest in the image is not cartographic in nature.

The distances between the continents do not follow any systematic programme, such as “Google Earth” offers, but are slightly shortened or elongated according to compositional principles.

"The subject of Ocean III deals with a core strand of interest to New Zealand and Pacific audiences and artists - that great expanse of ocean that defines our position in the world. It features the islands of New Zealand at the edge of a seeming blue abyss. It is a remarkable reminder of our Oceanic and Pacific location, and a fascinating realisation of how great that limitless ocean around us really is".

Links :

• TheGuardian :  How Google and Apple's digital mapping is mapping us

Speeding up science

   
Speeding Up Science from Facebook Stories
Watch how ichthyologist Brian Sidlauskas harnessed the power of the Facebook community to identify more than 5,000 species of fish in 24 hours.
Desperate times call for social measures.

In January 2011, Oregon State University ichthyologist Brian Sidlauskas led a research expedition into the little-known Cuyuni River region of Guyana in South America.

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

His team documented more than 5,000 fish, but Guyana’s immigration policies required them to identify and catalog every specimen they wanted to bring back—a nearly impossible task, especially on a tight schedule.

Sidlauskas uploaded his research photos to Facebook and tagged members of the scientific community who were able to identify almost all of the photos in under 24 hours.

Species richness – the number of distinct evolutionary lineages – is a fundamental measure of overall biodiversity.
Species are basic structural and functional units of ecology and evolution.
Accurate species identification is necessary to document genetic, physiological, and ecological aspects of biodiversity.
Recognizing and naming species matters, no matter how subtle the differences may seem to the human eye. (Fishes of the Fitzcarrald)

Links :

•  Seafloor Explorer is a crowd-sourced effort to identify species and ground cover in images of the seafloor. The application presents an image of the seafloor and asks the user to identify the ground cover and any species that are present in the image. The crowd-sourced results will then help create a library of seafloor life in the habitats along the northeast continental shelf. When the user has finished classifying the species in the image a still satellite image from Google Maps / Google Earth is displayed showing the location of the section of sea floor that has just been classified.

Daredevil photographers brave boiling waters to capture the drama of searing-hot lava crashing into the seas off Hawaii

Video of the first ever lava surf photography.

Taken on may 9th-16th at a Kalapana ocean entry that has just covered the last of the sand beach in the area. I waited over 5 years to get the conditions for this shot.

Then we got 3 days in the water prior to the beach getting covered.

From DailyMail

Two photographers risked their lives to become the first people to capture the explosive moment fiery lava crashes into the sea.
Nick Selway, 28, and CJ Kale, 35, braved baking hot 110F waters to capture these images, as they floated just feet from scalding heat and floating lava bombs (video)
The pair, who chase the lava as it flows from Kilauea through Kalapana, Hawaii, spend their days camped on the edge of active volcanoes to capture the incredible images.

Nature's fury: Nick Selway, 28, and CJ Kale, 35, braved baking hot 110F waters to capture these images, as they floated just feet from scalding heat and floating lava bombs

Contrast: The bright light of the lava, accentuated by a long exposure, sets of the grey of the water in the Hawaiian dusk

Terrifying: Mr Selway and Mr Kale dress only in swimming shorts and flippers as they float in rough seas as hot as 110F to capture the incredible images

Close call: The cameraman is just a few dozen feet from fiery lava pouring out of the rock
One of the daredevils braving surf, which is warmed by the lava, to snap the amazing images 

Hot and steamy: The two men use protective casings for their cameras, known as surf housings, to keep them operating in the exreme conditions

Using a simple protective casing around their cameras, and wearing just swimming shorts and flippers, they bob up and down with the water as the surf washes over their heads.
But their remarkable day jobs don't come without enormous danger.
Last year Mr Kale tumbled 20ft into a lava-tube with 40lb of camera gear on his back, shattering his ankle. Others have died in the area due to land falling away.

Beautiful, but dangerous: Mr Selway and Mr Kale don't recommend that others attempt to recreate the incredible shots

Beauty: Hawaii is an collection of volcanic islands located over a geological 'hot spot' in the Central Pacific

Artistic: Like a Salvador Dali painting, thick gloopy lava folds over a rock, left, as the molten rock cascades into the sea, right - causing steam to rise from the water

Magma: Mr Kale and Mr Selway spend days camped out on the edge of volcanoes to capture their shots at just the right moment

Daily drama: There are currently three active volcanoes in Hawaii

Brave: A photographer stands with his camera just a few hundreds yards from an explosion, left, as a river of lava boils down the mountainside, right

Bursts of colour: The indigenous culture of Hawaii is based around their life beside the active volcanoes

Colourful: Several different striking hues are on display in one of nature's greatest phenomenons - including grey, blue and red (left), and orange and purple (right)

Mr Kale, from Hawaii, said: 'We shoot pictures all over the world but our volcano images are shot here on the island because it's so spectacular.
'Our days are spent on the edge of volcanoes, either leaving at midnight to get out before the light of the rising sun or hiking in the day and then staying overnight.
'We use surf-housing which is a protective case so we can venture into the water with our cameras, as the heat and water would be too much for them.
'It's 110F where we were and just 20ft in front of us it was boiling.
'We have a lot of fun but it's extremely dangerous and I wouldn't recommend anyone trying it for themselves.
'I fell into a lava-tube shattering my ankle. After climbing out we had to lash my foot to my leg with a tripod, camera strap and belt and hike over the rugged terrain for two miles.
'Not many people die each year but when they do it's normally in large groups when large chunks of land drop into the sea.'

Fierce: Great clouds of steam fill the horizon as a lava flow winds its way to the sea

Power: A volcano eruption causes a tremendous explosion of rock, sending ash into the sky, left, as a river of lava flows into the ocean, right

Inches from death: People die every year in Hawaii trying to get a close-up view of the island chain's spectacular volcanoes

Awe-inspiring: An impressive display of Lava close-up, left, explodes into the air just beyond from where the photographers are standing, right

Stunning: The rising steam from the eruptions creates a rainbow across the evening sky

Mr Kale and Mr Selway, who is from Washington, are the only two people to bring such a magnificent and unique view of the volcano to the world.
Mr Kale added: 'It's such an extraordinary experience and we feel lucky to be able to turn our photography into what we do for a living.
'The views are really something special and completely unique every time.
'I wouldn't rather be doing anything else.'

Deadly: Molten rock flies through the air

Fiery: Molten lava explodes in this long exposure shot

Spark of attraction: Flames shoot up through water as a volcano errupts

Life on Mars? A river of molten rock flows past a majestic landscape that conjures up images of perhaps some faraway planet

Too close: A flip-flop catches fire as it is exposed to the lava - a warning to the photographers of the risks of doing this kind of work

Fountain of flames: A volley of lava explodes into the air with clouds of menacing smoke rising above

Molten river: Thousands of gallons of red lava cascade down a mountain slope in a scene of terrifying beauty

Bleak: Smoke rises off rivers of fiery lava as it crashes into the sea

Hawaii is an collection of volcanic islands located over a geological 'hot spot' in the Central Pacific. There are eight major islands and six of these are open to tourism.
Hawaii - or the 'Big Island' - is the largest of the islands and home to Mauna Kea and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park which includes two of the largest and most active volcanoes on Earth - Mauna Loa and Kilauea.
There are currently three active volcanoes in Hawaii. Maunaloa last erupted in 1984 and Kilauea has been erupting continuously since 1983.
Loihi is located underwater off the southern coast of Hawaii's Big Island and has been erupting since 1996.
It could break through the surface in about 250,000 years, adding a ninth distinct island to the Hawaiian chain.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog :  Dardevil diver playing with underwater lava