©Linh Dinh
All pictures via National Geographic PhotoContest 2010

National Geographic is currently holding the 2010 edition of their famous Photo Contest.
The deadline for submissions is set on November 30th so harry up if you want your chance to get the 10.000$ 1st prize (the winners wil also be published in the NatGeo magazine). Otherwise you can just rate the submitted pictures. In the meanwhile I've prepared a brief selection of water-related picture for you as an appetizer...

The act of drinking may seem like no big deal for anyone who can fully close his mouth to create suction, as people can. But the various species that cannot do so — and that includes most adult carnivores and our cats and dogs — must resort to some other mechanism, so if you have wondered how our pets drink this is the post for you:

(© National Geographic/Paul Nicklen) 

I hope that this Sunday you didn't lose the premiere of "Great Migrations" on National Geographic Channel, probably the best and biggest project that National Geographic has produced in the last two or three years: a new seven-part television series about the spectacular migrations in the animal world, and with it, a big campaign to promote it, a special website full of content, and a book.

These are a touching series of pictures about a baby dolphin, probably just ten days old, which has been found by tourists on a beach near Montevideo, Uruguay.

©Getty Images

Sometimes, while I'm writing this post it has been raining for the last three days,  we are used to think that autumn is the grayest of seasons, but skillful photographers easily show us that Fall has got instead a rich and
colourful palette. Enjoy a gallery from this first month of Autumn coming from all over the Boreal Emisphere:

©Carl Warner
I've always been a great fan of Carl Warner's foodscapes, those wonderful landscapes made up with just... food!
He is getting more and more famous thanks to his creative idea and many food-producing brands has used his masterpieces for their advertising campaigns. Obviously at the same time many other photographers are trying to copy the idea but, as usual, Warner's work, with ten year experience and a lot of passion, is always the best.

Photograph by Mike Sutton Brown, via NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM
A wonderful shot of an Atlantic Tarpon hunting a school of Silversides. The picture was taken by Mike Sutton Brown and uploaded on the Your Shot section of National Geographic website, a place where it's possible to submit a favorite photo for possible publication in National Geographic. Just like in this case you can find many wonderful and ispiring shots there. You can also download this photo as a wallpaper.
The picture was taken at Eden Rock, Grand Cayman. For just a short time every year these silversides swarm caves and swim-throughs at Cayman's dive sites. The picture was taken late afternoon just as the sun was going down. The photographer was hiding behind the silversides, low in the rocks. As the tarpon swam through the silversides, they eventually saw him and turned away. Just like you see in the picture. 

Photo: © Carlo Borlenghi
Try to imagine a wonderful, extreme, sport challenge taking place in one of the less known but most beautiful and intriguing areas of the world. What am I talking about? simple: Mongolia Bike Challenge, a brand new 12 legs Mountain Bike race across Mongolia, a place so wild and untouched by humans that every leg takes place in a different environment: from sand dunes

©Guido Trombetta/b-plan
Last weekend I was in Lerici for the first event of the 2010 edition of the Audi Melges 32 Sailing Series. Very strange conditions: huge waves and very light wind:

©Carlo Borlenghi
If you are close to the Alpina Hütte, Corviglia, St.Moritz, Switzerland and skiing in one of the most beautiful mountains all over the world isn't fun enough for you, you may evaluate the idea of taking part to the Alpina Surfover. What is it?

©Flipped Out

If you're one of the readers of SeaWayBLOG, looking at the picture here above, you may think that I'm going to speak about some environmental issue concerning river chemical pollution but if you're a Chicagoan you already know that this is a completely different (and more pleasant) story...
Two days ago it was St.Patrick Day, the yearly holiday celebrated on 17 March, named after Saint Patrick (AD 387–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. It began as a purely Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 1600s. However, it has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Ireland's culture.
During their celebrations Chigaoans dye their river green and have done so since 1962 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and had the idea to turn the river green for Saint Patrick's Day. Originally 100 pounds of vegetable dye was used to turn the river green for a whole week but now only forty pounds of dye is used and the colour only lasts for several hours.
Chicago is not the only American city celebrating this way:
Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. In Jamestown, New York, the Chadakoin River (a small tributary that connects Conewango Creek with its source at Chautauqua Lake) is dyed green each year. Columbia, SC dies its fountain green in the area known as Five Points (a popular collegiate location near the University of South Carolina).
The picture above and the two following were taken on this year celebration. Unfortunately weather was dark and gloomy.


©Getty Images via Daylife

©Getty Images via Daylife

The following pictures instead were taken in previous editions and the sun makes them really spectacular:


©multisanti

©multisanti

©jshueh

©jshueh

©multisanti

©yuan2003

©Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov

A nice little set of "liquid sculptures": flowers and a star created with water splashes.
The authors are Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov, a russian couple of advertising and fashion photographers. You can check their portfolio in their website: DOBERMANSTUDIO.RU


©Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov

©Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov

©Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov

©Alexandra Zaharova & Ilya Plotnikov

(©emmevi via corriere.it)

As a photographer I've always found pretty intriguing the idea of dipping inside a cage to take pictures of sharks. Looking at these pictures taken in Guadeloupe with a white shark I feel even more intrigued.. It's for sure a strong experience


(©emmevi via corriere.it)

(©emmevi via corriere.it)

(©emmevi via corriere.it)

(©emmevi via corriere.it)

The image of a church emerging from the water just with the bell tower is quite distinguishing indeed, but it's not so rare, there are at least half a dozen example in the world (and a wonderful one, I've already spoken about, is in Italy) and the story behind it's more or less always the same: a dam built for hydroelectric purposes causing an entire village to be submerged. The bell tower, which often is the highest spot of a village remains as a picturesque recall (of economic interests overwhelming people's interests).


©Reuters

This time however, even if the first part of the story is just the same, there is an unexpected (and somehow worrying) turn in the plot. The church has resurfaced!
It's in Venezuela and the cause is a severe drought which is hitting the nation, exposing a church, pictured in 2008 (left) and on February 21, 2010.


©Reuters

The 82-foot-tall (25-meter-tall) church and the Andean town of Potosi were flooded in 1985 to establish the Uribante-Caparo water reservoir to power the plant, which is currently operating at just 7 percent of its capacity.

©Reuters

The church is now an ominous symbol of energy shortages in the country, which gets around 68 percent of its power from hydroelectricity. The droughts spurred Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to declare an energy emergency in February.

©Reuters

In a little over a year, the Venezuelan church went from almost fully submerged to bone dry.

The drought that caused the rapid decline has been linked to El Niño, a climate phenomenon that occurs every two to seven years and changes worldwide weather patterns. During an El Niño event—such as the current one, which began in summer 2009—the Pacific Ocean warms up near equatorial South America and disrupts large-scale atmospheric circulation.

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Reuter

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Reuters

©Carlo Borlenghi

The wonderful climate and landscapes of the caribbean make the "RORC 600 Caribbean" a truely wonderful regatta to sail. The second edition has just taken place. Enjoy this gallery from Carlo Borlenghi and Stefano Gattini. To really understand what kind of Eden we are talking about take a look at the picture above, wonderful sun , wonderful sea, an erupting vulcano on the background and a school of dolphins jumping around your boat... Not bad, don't you think?


©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Carlo Borlenghi

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini

©Stefano Gattini