Jonathan Bird's Blue World:
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All the news about what's happening here in the Blue World! Thanks for reading! (The older posts are at the bottom of the page and it gets newer as you go up.)

 

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MAY 6, 2008
The new episode (The Mysterious Hammerhead) is now posted!

APRIL 22, 2008
We are proud to announce that KET (Kentucky Educational Television) is the first Public Television network to schedule Jonathan Bird's Blue World for broadcast--starting May 21, 2008! Here is the broadcast schedule.

MARCH 27, 2008
Our new episode, Exploring the Prinz Eugen, is now posted. You may have noticed that everything so far has been science. This one is history! We don't want to leave anyone out, so you history buffs will love this great new episode. Next month...back to science with a program about hammerhead sharks.

MARCH 5, 2008
Where's the new stuff? Right now we are working double overtime to prepare our shows for the satellite uplink to public television beginning on May 17. (Finer details here). The nice side-benefit is that we will have six new segments to post here on the website shortly, so you can expect, starting in April, a new segment each and every month, rain or shine for the next year. I promise! And we have some awesome stuff for you....just wait and see! But until the programs are finished for TV, there is not much time for website updating. So thank you for your patience! Once the scheduled uplink to the satellite gets closer, we will be urging our fans to contact their local public TV stations and tell them you want Jonathan Bird's Blue World in their broadcast schedule!

FEBRUARY 15, 2008
We are very excited to announce that starting in May, Jonathan Bird's Blue World will be syndicated to public TV stations across the USA. We will soon provide some suggestions on how you can help urge your local PBS station to schedule Jonathan Bird's Blue World in their programming line-up!

JANUARY 30, 2008
We are thrilled to report that Jonathan Bird's Blue World has been endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA) and they did a write-up about the show in their most recent issue of NEA Today.

JANUARY 3, 2008
There is a short but nice review of the Blue World program here.

JANUARY 2, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR! To celebrate the new year, the first volume of Jonathan Bird's Blue World is now available here on DVD! Buy one and see us in full resolution!

DECEMBER 21, 2007
It has come to our attention that some PC users are having trouble with the .mp4 extension, so we are currently re-rendering episodes that used that codec and we are scrapping the idea of using the same file for the ipod and the web browser. Episodes 8 and 9 were affected by this and have been repaired.

DECEMBER 20, 2007
Jonathan Bird's Blue World was featured on PC Magazine's website this month as 10 Web shows to Watch during the writers strike!! How cool is that??? THANK YOU PC Magazine...you clearly know good programming when you see it!

DECEMBER 18, 2007
At last the manatee segment is finally finished and posted! Hurray! (Hey, a month late isn't so bad...) Great editing job by Kerry once again! This is the last standard definition Blue World Episode. Time to embrace the widescreen future of High Definition. All the future epsides, beginning with the next episode, about whale sharks, will be presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and shot in HD.

DECEMBER 7, 2007
Do you know the secret of the reef?

DECEMBER 2, 2007
The DVCPRO deck is at last repaired and Kerry is back at work on the manatee segment! In other news, we have finalized a plan to shoot a segment in Antarctica in early 2009. Is that cool or what? We will be shooting an episode at the New England Aquarium in February, 2008 as well as an episode about Tiger sharks in March. All in HD!

NOVEMBER 12, 2007
The DVCPRO deck is still being fixed, so the manatee segment is delayed. However, we have something else for you to watch! Check out the new Oceanic Research Group educational film SHARKS: Predators With A Purpose!

NOVEMBER 4, 2007
We are having problems with our DVCPRO deck and as a result the manatee segment is going to be delayed a bit while we have it repaired. I have however been working on editing the HD footage from the upcoming sea turtles and whale shark segments. I also just returned from DEMA (Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association meeting) where I talked to several companies about segments to be shot in various places in the world including Antarctica. Stand by!

OCTOBER 16, 2007
I just returned from an exciting dive trip to Indonesia. Unfortunately, this had nothing to do with Blue World, so there will not be a segment having anything to do with it. But Kerry is working hard editing the next episode (manatees) and we hope to release it in November. Meanwhile, I'm completing another project so I can finish it and put my full efforts into Blue World soon!

SEPTEMBER 29, 2007
It's finally here! The new episode of Jonathan Bird's Blue World: the Bandana Game! There is an article of mine about the Bandana Game also appearing in the current issue of Alert Diver Magazine. See if you can get your hands on it!

SEPTEMBER 28, 2007
We are nearly finished with Volume 1 of Jonathan Bird's Blue World on DVD which will be for sale here shortly. Jonathan just put the finishing touches on the mastering of the DVD (designing the menus and making sure all the video looks good) while Kerry is working on the design of the DVD itself. Copies will be for sale at the ORG Benefit on November 11, 2007 in Waltham, MA where you will be able to meet Jonathan as well. Volume 1 will contain the first 6 segments of Jonathan Bird's Blue World as seen here on the website, except in full resolution so it will look amazing in your DVD player! The DVD also will contain the short segment "Bird's Blurbs." It will sell for $24.95.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2007
After endless problems with our iTunes files, we have finally figured out what was giving us issues making JBBW work on the ipod. (Our server didn't like the .m4v extension so we are now using .mp4). Now all the stuff available here can be downloaded as podcasts to your ipod. Try it! They look great and you can now watch the show anywhere! SUBSCRIBE

SEPTEMBER 10, 2007
I have just returned from a short assignment for Sport Diver Magazine to St. Vincent in the Caribbean. The story will appear in the October issue. I know, I know! The next episode of JBBW is well overdue. It is about 3/4 finished, but I have to allocate some time to finish it. Blue World goes back on the front burner as soon as my flurry of travel and other work has wound down. I hope to have the new episode on-line in late September. I'm also trying to finish the edit of a feature-length documentary that I have been working on for a year, so I'm really busy, but do not fear, new episodes of Jonathan Bird's Blue World are coming soon. Kerry is going to start working on the manatee segment edit as well. This segment will be released after the dolphin segment.

AUGUST 28, 2007
The trip to Malaysia was a huge success! Wait until you see the amazing footage we got of sea turtles! We shot turtles nesting on the beach using Infra-red night vision so we wouldn't disturb them. We also shot a fascinating sequence of sea turtles mating in the water. This is going to be an exciting episode. We are planning a January or February 2008 release for this segment. I know that we are overdue for a new segment to be released here on the site, but I have been so busy working on shooting new things during this part of the year that I just haven't had time to edit anything. The problem is that the fall is a very good time of year for diving in many parts of the world, so I am busy filming it all!

AUGUST 10, 2007
Although I have started editing the next episode ("The Bandana Game") about wild Spotted dolphins, I am leaving tomorrow on a two week shoot in Malaysia with a special volunteer film crew, so the release of the new episode has to be delayed a bit. The Malaysia shoot is for a new Blue World episode about sea turtles. We are heading there now because it is peak turtle nesting season. We are shooting in high definition and we hope to bring you a fantastic episode!

AUGUST 4, 2007
The Blue World film crew has just returned from an exciting 5 day trip to Holbox Island in Mexico where we filmed an incredible Whale shark phenomenon. Hundreds of whale sharks gather here to feed on rich, planktonic water in the summer. I have never, in my life seen anything as incredible as this! What a great segment this will be! This will be a December or January release segment, and our first complete segment shot in high definition.

JULY 29, 2007
We are proud to announce a partnership with Sachtler, which will be providing us with camera support for our project! It's a good thing they make tough tripods because they are going to get a workout!

 

 

 

 

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