Saturday, January 28, 2017

oops

Forgot to load the pinktail durgon and the flounder.  Here you go:

Sorry, I forgot to put them on the original post.  Enjoy!

Three octopuses and several chickens.

Yeah, it's Kauai! So lovely vistas, great water and chickens.  Yeah, this Mom and her chicks heard me rustle the plastic bag that I saved from our time on Oahu and thought I was getting ready to feed them something.  Sorry, chicks!

They were the definition of bird brain too....they just didn't get the idea that there was no food.  Even though I told them many times!  Perhaps they need to brush up on their English skills and learn to read brush-off body signals.  They did eventually go away in search of real food. (And before you feel badly for them, I saw a man feeding the chickens later.  I really think that God gives them all they need, what with the bugs, grains and centipedes on Kauai, but I guess they are going for easy eats.)
But yeah, once I got near the water, there were rewards a plenty.  First of all, the wind had died down, so the water was calmer.  Always a good thing!
Three octopuses.  Oh yeah.  Love that!

Got it?  This one had a sort of green coloration.  And it was way too deep to see really well.  But I'm always ecstatic when I see the first one.  And thankful, too. It relaxes the remainder of the dive.  I tell God that I'm thankful and also that one is enough.  Two is better, but one is enough. LOL.

This one I spotted because it was associated with an adult Rock Mover wrasse.


I love the bumps they can make.

And #3:
 This octopus let me interact with him a bit...he kept looking up to see if I was still there.  Oh the fun we could have! If only. (Read a great book: Mark Batterson's IF...when you have time.)

I forgot to show you the rain just offshore.  Well, actually, not sure how far this rain was offshore.  

There are several places where the rain was coming down.  Thankfully, not over my head.
And for my sweetie, a small and very cute trunk fish:
I snapped this shot, then got outa his way.  (Or her..) I didn't want to further spook this cute little guy.

I got quite a few pix of the pinktail durgon.  One of my fave fish. 
You can see how lovely this fish is.  You can also see how beat-up his top fin is!  Don't know if that is normal wear and tear, but I felt bad for it.  Didn't seem to slow it down any. I'll try to remember to put the video on here too...it's currently only on youtube.
And as I was filming the juvenile rock mover wrasse, another one, even smaller!, swam by:
How cute are they?  And my hubby will be impressed...finally I'm getting over the Blue Only phase. HA More rock movers below.






I have been seeing this pair for a while. Glad to see they're still jetting around.







And I love Brighteye Chromis, so thankful to catch a few on film.
It's under the big rock in the middle.  No, I wouldn't lie..












And a flounder happened by!  Love those...
It flew, too, and I got that on video. 
 Later..
A couple of Spotfin Scorpion Fish, too.  This one was hiding in a hole in the rocks:
Good hiding place, right?
Well, I found it, but most people probably wouldn't.  The difference is that I expect to see them.  Other folks might not know about 'em.  If they did, they wouldn't walk around on the rocks.
In the middle.  Click on the photo....
I also noted a group of fish, so I swam over.  Turns out it was a cleaning station, where Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasses (the purple and yellow fish) pick stuff out of the gills of other fish:
I thought it was cute: 2 cleaners and 2 unicorn fish.  
And now, just for fun.  Recently ordered a pair of shot glasses.  They came from CHINA via Iceland...who knew?!

I do have days like this...when I wish I was an octopus with 8 arms, so I could slap several people at once...like the idiots who insisted they weren't chasing the turtle...they were just following it. 

I resisted blasting them and swam away, after delivering the news that they shouldn't "follow" the turtle.  

Oh yeah and one more of the juvenile rock mover wrasse.  Can't resist:
C'mon, isn't that a great pattern?  Note the "antlers" too.  God is the best.  Creations galore! Enjoy them.  One never knows how much time is left...
Oops almost forgot the lizard fish for Alex:


Saturday, January 21, 2017

Who knew a rainy day would turn out great?

I was certainly surprised myself! I saw an octopus, a Hawaiian Green Lion Fish, a Leaf fish and all the usual suspects....even rain from underneath the waves.  And rainbows galore.  
But the best part, and nothing against the other people who love to swim, but I adore really having the pond to myself.  Which I did for the most part today.  Wow.

Apparently, rain kept some people back in their condos.  Or perhaps it was the wind.  Neither of which kept me from the water.  Well, it WAS Saturday!  and now that I'm working, Sat and Sun are the only days where swimming is readily available.  And was I ready.

Seeing the octopus was funny too: I had more or less decided that if it was cloudy, there would be less light, so the odds of seeing my 8 legged friends declined today, in my mind.  But I just thought that and then looked around and there was an octopus, hiding in its hole:

You can see his siphon open, just to the right of the urchin.  
There were many Drupe shells out and about today.  Some came with crab:
You have to look really close....it's under the lip of the drupe shell.
You can see the orange legs and blue eye stalks of the crab just to the right of the red rock.  He was making a home in the shell.  You can see the orange legs on the right, too.
Leaf Fish:
I think these fish are so cool! See it?! in the upper left of the photo, just below the crack in the rock.  They really are just like leaves: they move in the current, too.

Rainbow, obviously, but with the water in front me in in the photo too.  There was a seal on the beach and one in the water when I walked down to get in...
Taking a little snooze...well, perhaps a l-o-n-g snooze, since it was still snoozing when i got out, two and a half hours later.....they can sleep as long as they want.  let 'em have whatever peace they can find.

and this little dogey was swimming around outside in the big pond, which is why i didn't go there.  oh yeah, also the fact that no one was watching, so if I drowned, no one would care...or report it....or take a photo... one never knows.
It's the long blob in the water.  And yes, I did check for a back fin.  No sense in being stupid, even if God does give me protection when I swim.  (And octopuses, but I digress..)
Nice colors inside.  Very smooth shell inside too. Outside, not so much.
Coral:

This cowry shell was nestled in with some blue coral.  I thought it was a pretty image.
Box fish for Alex:
Nice little male.  They have amazing colors, but they are both shy, male and female..











A tiny humu looked at me with fear:
Or may be it was just telling me to go away. So many do...

Another wonderful rainbow, swallowed up by the clouds..
And a pair of Moorish Idols.  Nose to tail:
One hardly ever sees them like this. 
OK, you can see waves, rainbow and the seal, sleeping peacefully amidst the Keep Away signs.
Life is good.



Monday, January 16, 2017

Wow! Saw so much cool stuff, I'm tired!

Turtle:
This was a big guy!  But smoothly glided past me. (Check youtube octopigirl7 to see the swim.)
And a Spanish Dancer nudibranch and a file fish looking interested. Thankfully, the fish left it alone
I was conflicted when taking this shot: follow the file fish or follow the nudibranch? Decisions, decisions. There's some video of the Spanish Dancer on my youtube site, too..












I spotted three octopuses.  yay. 
 Definitely peeking at me.  Well hidden, too.
And a really tiny flounder...maybe 2 inches, all told.

Can you believe?!  Looks a lot like the sand.  But it has a pattern.
Scorpion fish:

Oh yes, with a face only a mother could love.. Didn't move at all in the 5 minutes I was taking photos.  Ambush indeed!











Juvenile Rock Mover Wrasse:
The move around like seaweed.
I think I see these scorpion fish and their family members because I swim so slowly, searching for octopuses, that I see them along the bottom.  This Hawaiian Green Lion Fish moved, but I wasn't prepared for video...drat.

Fortunately, shells move more slowly...that is, unless they are inhabited by a Hermit Crab....
Since I'm in the shell category...

I only take broken shells...and operculum!  Today, I was having trouble with my left hand's pointer finger...and I realized it was because the darn glove was filled with opercula! HAHA.
Octopus #2:

He was quite bumpy and had moved from under the rock to the right of the rock.  A wrasse was pestering him, swimming all around.  Of course, it wasn't ME pestering him.  I hope.











Lizard fish apparently standing at attention.

Box  or trunk feesh!
Bubble shell:
These shells are so small and fragile.  Even if I did harvest shells, I'd be afraid to break it on the way home.
And I nearly put a hand down on the flounder


So cool and so patterned like the sea floor. 
Ambon puffer:
Finally! I caught a shot where you can see the beautiful blue fin on its underside.  Love all those patterns, too.
See how sneaky they can be?  Another scorpion fish, just sitting under the rock, waiting to make a move..

And speaking of sneaky...would you see that octopus? 

I do not know what was on this Ambon Puffer's mind, but it was hiding within the rocks...I don't normally see them do that...
Just a great day to be in the water.  And had a wonderful walk with my friend, so I got even more exercise.  Life is good! Thanks for reading.