The Triton 36,000 is an amazing submarine. Previous generations of the Triton only went to 1000m, but the new model uses technology from Rayotek Scientific to make a passenger dome that reacts to increasing pressure from increasing depth by becoming stronger.
Just because that awesomely retro film camera you bought on eBay or at the junk shop uses film that’s no longer in production (case in point: 126 film) doesn’t mean you can’t get any photos out of it. Through-the-viewfinder photography can be pretty effective when done well, by pointing a digital camera’s lens through the viewfinder of ye olde camera, and snapping away.
What was the first colour underwater photo, and how was it taken? What exactly was Jacques Cousteau’s influence on the underwater photography field? How were photos taken of the Titanic, 12500 feet below the surface? National Geographic has a fascinating little slideshow of the history of underwater photography, though one question it failed to answer for me is exactly what the photographers say to the fish to get them to smile for the camera. Krill? [National Geographic]
Russian marine biologist Alexander Semenov studied invertebrates at Moscow State University Moscow State with an emphasis in squid brains. Yeah! Squid brains. Pretty awesome.
If you’ve ever donned scuba gear, you owe a bit of gratitude to Christian Lambertsen, who headed to the great reef in the sky yesterday. Lambertsen not only invented the hell out of scuba gear, but coined the term itself.
I’m not much of an ocean guy, really, but this magnificent machine—a compact mini-sub called the EGO—looks amazing enough for me to push aside my fear of fish and set out into the deep blue sea. In a sense it’s an upside-down boat: the hull floats on the surface of the water while the cockpit is held underneath, with aquarium-style walls allowing you to peep everything going on under the surface.
Compare and contrast. This monochrome photo, above, is how submarine cables were laid back in the day (in 1906, to be exact). It’s not much different from how companies like Cable&Wireless Worldwide and Alcatel-Lucent do it now, right?
Consider the shrimp. Delicious to eat, whether doomed to a deep fryer or steamed and dunked in cocktail sauce. But, they’re also quite enjoyable to watch prancing around! Especially in 3D, seen here, with a suitably sci-fi underwater soundtrack.
“Sorry, Shark Week… just wanted to make sure you got my good side this time.” I am 100 per cent confident that you can do better in the comments. Your participant reward: this same picture, with LASERS.
