Nice water, nice fish, octopuses still hiding

I get to swim in Hawaii. I get to routinely see seals, turtles, often octopuses, and pretty fish. So if I have a couple of days without my fave animal, who am I to complain?

Of course, I'm doing that anyway. Hard to please, ungrateful....well, you know the drill. I am still recovering from bronchitis, so I stayed out of the deep side. I thought: when I tell others to be careful, why should I ignore my own advice?

I did see nice animals: blue box fish, scorpion fish, spotfin scorpion and a leaf fish. All good. And still in the back of my mind: where were those octopuses? So plentiful before.....and yes, there are seals aplenty, so perhaps I can blame them. And really, when I've been seeing so many, maybe they are taking a break from being gawked at. And photographed unmercifully. In any case, I'm happy I was well enough to swim, truly.

I popped up at one point to see if anyone was headed my way and saw people on the beach taking photos. Now, I'm cute, but no way they were photographing me! So I eventually saw two seals working their way up for a nap. Awwww.

 And here is the reason I took about 20 minutes to get in this morning: 3 seals cavorting in the Kiddie pond. I don't begrudge them their time; after all it is their home.

 Nice cowry shell hiding

At first, it's just a Moorish Idol, but it is actually looking in on a stocky hawk fish, hidden down below.

Humu butt

And a Humu wedging itself into the hole where the octopus is supposed to be!

Laughing seal. (Really, more likely barking, but..)

Leaf Fish. These are such crazy cool animals! All just standing there..

Today's male Trunk Fish had the sun in its eye.

And since I usually get them as they run away, here it is from the side.

And the other side.

Well, I did miss the big eclipse recently, but caught the moon later this morning.

Still trying for a good needlefish photo.

But the Raccoon Butterfly stood still for a second, so I caught it.

And here's the scorpion fish. You can just see the orange and yellow fin above its body.

Swimming around

I am still trying to figure out a good way to show how small these are! 

And a Spanish Dancer nudibranch. Maybe 4 inches long.

And the Spotfin Scorpion Fish moving along.

Trevally with stripes. 

Surfer girl! I gotta admire them. I would be scared out of my mind!

And a little splash from the seals.

Thanks for the swim, God! And please I am asking, seeking and knocking for an octopus next time! (Matthew 7:7)