Most people have heard of giant squids…deep-sea dwelling cephalopods that are believed to be a primary sources of food for sperm whales, and perhaps the origin of ancient sailors’ yarns about blood-thirsty krakens and sea serpents. Stories of giant squids these days generally refer to a species known as Architeuthis dux, which can grow to an estimated 13 metres in length.

What most people don’t know, however, is that there’s an even bigger squid out there, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, otherwise known as the colossal squid.

First identified in 1925, colossal squids still remain shrouded in mystery. Researchers believe they grow somewhat longer than giant squids but attain much greater mass. With only a handful of specimens to study, it’s difficult to ascertain much more.

The first adult colossal squid caught intact measured 10 metres long and was captured by a New Zealand fisherman in early 2007. One squid scientist commented that calamari rings prepared from the enormous squid would look like tractor tires.

For more information, click here.

Overfishing is a rapidly escalating problem, decimating fish populations in all the world’s oceans from cold water to tropical seas, from shallow areas to the deep, dark abyss.

Recent reports suggests that up to 20 percent of all fish catches may be illegally caught. Read more…

Our friends at Wetpixel have just released the second issue of Wetpixel Quarterly, featuring the work of James Watt, as well as images from many of the talented Wetpixel team. Click here for more information.

It’s out at last - the much-awaited A Divers Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography by Andrea and Antonella Ferrari is now available worldwide!

Eight enjoyable chapters about motivation, equipment, technique, mindframe, philosophy, artistic influences, cameras, housings, strobes, macro, wide-angle, portraits, topside surface interval photography and many, many other subjects.

Illustrated with a spectacular selection of some of the authors’ top shots, plus image contributions from some of the world’s best professional and amateur underwater photographers - including Doug Perrine, Tony Wu, Charles Hood, John Scarlett, Alex Mustard, Eric Cheng, Stephen Wong, Takako Uno, Alberto Luca Recchi, Fiona Ayerst and many, many others.

A Diver’s Guide to the Art of Underwater Photography strives to be completely different from other guides currently on the market. Not only is it produced on heavy glossy paper with the highest colour separation and printing quality, but the book also features scores of spectacular images from some of the world’s most influential professionals and also many extraordinarily gifted amateurs.

This reinforces one of the basic themes the Ferraris strive to convey: that taking great underwater images has less to do with camera models or technical trickery than with the “art of seeing” and the willingness to react on instinct, recognising beauty when it appears.

The book is a large, high-quality paperback measuring 25 cm x 22.5 cm, with 360 pages, 300+ large photos, and printed on glossy heavy paper. Each photograph (all 300 of them!) is extensively captioned, illustrating technique, equipment used, location, creative choices and final results.

The book is available from selected shops, including NHBS and Amazon UK at EURO 37,00 / GBP 24.99 / USD 51.00. Coming to the FiNS Online shop soon!

The holiday festivities are over (at least for the time being) and it’s time to plan your next dive trip. Peruse the pages of the first issue of FiNS for 2008 and you’ll find enthralling stories on destinations like Myanmar, Tonga and Ambon, as well as our regular collection of informative articles on photography, gear and marine life.

Our one-and-only Gadget Guru finds himself wondering whether whistles work well, while in Dive Diary, we take a look back on a year of dive training and draw lessons from Plub’s experiences.

We’re also very happy to bring you three new and unique columns: Discussions with Dirk and Dermot, Really Richard?, and Urban Diver.

Look out for issue 7.1 in your mailbox, or even better, download your free copy here or via our iTunes podcast.

Attention photographers and videographers: the deadline for the Our World-Underwater photo and video contest is just around the corner! Get your images and videos in before January 15, 2008. DEEP Indonesia’s deadline follows just one month later.  As a reminder, we’re giving away over $80,000 in combined prizes, including 30 dive expeditions and a bunch of underwater photography gear.

Winning images will be prominently featured in issue 3 of Wetpixel Quarterly and dozens of other print and online publications, including Sport Diver, Dive (UK), FiNS, Scuba Diver Australasia, X-Ray, UwP, and more.

Entry forms and detailed guidelines can be found at underwatercompetition.com.