Needles, Goats and Convicts

Well, perhaps I shouldn't title this post in that manner, since we did have a pharmacy robbery recently here in Koloa Town.  Don't worry, though, as the guy was caught....But here's the picture that caused the title:

You may remember I've been trying to get the needlefish in a decent photo, so here you go!  There are many goat fish also, and perhaps just one convict tang...ha.  It is fun to name these posts....If you have time, click on the photo and see the eyes of the needlefish...they are def looking at us!



There were two octopuses today.  My pal Royden helped me by watching when I first got in..I am somewhat reluctant to get in totally alone, especially in the big pond.  So he watched.  Just to make sure I didn't get swept around needlessly.  Really though, he was probably desirous of finding out where those octopuses were hanging out.  I really can't make myself think about eating those great creatures.  Especially since the two I saw today were small...they should be allowed to grow.

Yes, it really is hiding in a crevice under the big red rock.  Oh yeah.  Very shy. No self-bashing, but I am a lot larger than a small octopus.  This one was probably smaller than my hand.
Octopus #2:

 

Yeah, right in the center of the picture. So cute.  And it did scrunch down in its den when I zoomed down to see it better.  My bad!

And a very nice surprise, which I'll admit spooked me for a second, the honu!  I was in the deeper part, looking for my "regular" octopus (no joy) and I felt something near me and saw brown out of the corner of my eye:

It kinda reminds me of that turtle in the Finding Nemo and Finding Dory movies!  Hey dude!

Of course, I swam out of its area, but not without snapping a few shots first.  This was a big one.  It seemed uncaring that I was around.

And a new Trigger!  Not sure what kind, as my books don't really show this coloration....sadly, I couldn't get too close, so the shot isn't fabulous:

It's the one in the center of the photo.  If you have any wisdom on what type of Trigger it is, please don't hesitate to let me know.

A Christmas Wrasse that I was able to get a decent shot of:

And I'm not sure if this is the same Tun shell from the other day, but whoever it was, it was buried in the sand:

I'll compare this one to the ones from the other day....maybe the spots on it are like fingerprints.










Box fish for sweetheart:

A male.  And scooting away just as fast as he could.  Was it something I said?!
And a lizard fish:

They are kinda like scorpion fish, in that they await prey in the sand.  Hardly moving at all.










And please don't think I'm odd, but yesterday I collected 78 opercula!!!

Next time, if I can remember, I'll show you the box that these will go into.  What a weird thing to collect, right?!

And again, it was hard to force myself out of the water, since it was so nice.  But one can only have pruney hands for so long.....