Yup, another swim without octopus sighting! And I'm sighing. Friends offered ideas for this lack, such as the large number of seals in the area. Sadly, I like seals, but they do have this bad habit of eating octopuses! In another vein, I have seen my past year calendars and June does seem to be a slow month. So perhaps things will pick up in July! Here's hoping (and praying..)
Today I did have some good sightings: a black Leaf Fish, a yellow Leaf Fish, a Hairy Triton shell with the operculum still intact and a Peacock Flounder! woohoo!
Not the prettiest creature ever, but I do find them fascinating. (I also uploaded a short video of this fish being bashed around by the waves...look for octopigirl7 on youtube..)
The Turban shell with its operculum still working....the operculum can snap open and shut to protect the animal inside the shell.
I hardly ever see 4 yellow tail coris in one frame...but here they are! The one at the bottom is apparently somewhat older, as it has begun to have the adult coloration (see the adult below.)
Yellow Leaf Fish, hiding in a cleft in the rocks.
A ballet of Moorish Idols. They are so graceful when swimming...
No swim would be complete without the Brighteye Chromis. So cute.
I have been forgetting to memorialize the Christmas Wrasse. They are always around but also always fast.
A Cone shell hiding in the rocks.
What I think is a Crown of Thorns starfish. These are not popular on the reef, as they terrorize and eat practically everything.
Spotfin Scorpion Fish hiding under a rock.
See the flounder?! I didn't at first.
You can see the circles on its skin a little better in this photo.
And in the photo to the right, the fish had scooched down in the sand, throwing some on its back for better camouflage! I think it succeeded, don't you?
A nice Hairy Triton with the operculum (in this case, a dark colored one) still protecting it. See part of the animal in the channel to the left.
Two Honu today. And 3 seals!
A Humu. Nice fish....quite regularly seen on the reef, so sometimes I forget about them.
Damsels with needlefish, near the rocks dividing the shallow side from the deep.
Morning clouds and palms for Alex.
This is the 2nd time I saw this puffer. Standoffish, but that's ok: I have seen their jaws and you don't want to mess with that mouth!
Another shell that was pretty. See the other one to the left, more buried in the sand.
Shrimp-ness! Two orange claws in a hole. I often wondered who makes such a nice round hole in the bottom...now we know.
Snowflake Moray Eel.
Spiny urchin.
The back of the Spotfin Scorpion fish.
I didn't get a very good picture of this fish...but really was curious what it was!
This urchin used remains of another urchin for protection.
Cute little urchin on top of a rock. It's tough for me to get a good angle on them, as they're on top of a rock.
Whiskers, sleeping on the beach....
A nice Hairy Triton with the operculum (in this case, a dark colored one) still protecting it. See part of the animal in the channel to the left.
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