Is beauty a purpose?

So I had a job interview this morning and since it was in Poipu, of course I decided to swim afterwards.

Natch!  I saw one octopus, but again, it was too deep to even think of getting a good photo, but the one I will show you is interesting:

It seems as if the octopus may have taken a piece of glass or plastic and used it to cover itself.  Or maybe it's just me......

And as is often the case, I couldn't really tell what I had until I got the camera home and looked closely.  This octopus was really trying to become part of the landscape and didn't move much, so I don't feel too badly about his being too deep for video.  Video of a still object is boring.  Kinda like a lengthy photograph! 

There was a seal, which I first saw prior to the interview at around 9:30 or so.  When I left, it was 1:30 and the seal was still sleeping.  Really tired, apparently.  What I think is cool is that if you watch them closely, you really cannot tell that they're breathing.  I guess all the fat that they need disguises the lung function...That's why some folks think they're dead, because they can't see them breathing.  I am glad we have such a good system for roping them off for protection.  People do get concerned and curious.

So 2 Rock Mover Wrasses today: first, the juvenile:

Isn't that a crazy cool fish?!
And then an adult, accompanied by a Bluefin Trevally:

Kinda crazy isn't it?  I mean, how different the adult Rock Mover is when compared to the juvenile.

And now for something completely different, some flowers!

I wondered:

What possible purpose could there be to have those pretty lines of color on the flowers?  Perhaps it draws the pollinators in.  But I prefer to think that God created them with the only purpose being beauty.

And speaking of beauty, a Pinktail Durgon.  Gosh, these fish are so pretty and also so shy. The second they see me, they head out.

Am I right? So pretty.  (I will probably continue to assert this until you all agree...so let's get it over with right now. HA.)

Of course, since I had an "interview watch" on and it's not waterproof, I totally forgot to bring a waterproof watch, so instead of my usual 2+ hours in the water, I ended up with an hour and a half. It's all good though: a good interview and an octopus!  What more does a young girl need to make her happy?!

A fishy addendum

I can't believe I forgot to include the cute little Sergeant Major fish.  This one was about as big as my thumbnail.  Awwwww! He was darting around just near a ledge where he could hide.  I managed to catch him with my camera.

Have a great Sunday.

AQUA

Normally, I would put an exclamation point after that title, but I'm trying to wean myself off of using so many !!!!! in my posts.  (and it was very hard not to put one after that sentence....just sayin'.)

Here's the aqua, which is the siphon and body of octopus #2

This octopus was hiding under a shelf of rock.

You can see the head of the octopus under the rock on the above right; the siphon and part of the body is on the left.  I do wonder if the octopus knew it was partially exposed on both ends!
Normally, I see them hiding in a hole that is more protected in the back.  Who can tell what they're thinking?













Clouds and palms:

Palm trees for my baby!
 













I was also treated to a Scrawled (or Scribbled) Filefish:

 It amazes me that the filefish family has so many different types and also, so big a differential in size: the fantail filefish takes up less space than this one's tail...

And it rained on me. That doesn't bother me in itself, but there is less light, so that affects the photos.

I was in the water, and pointing down at the surface to take the photo.

Here's a Snowflake Moray, peeking out of its hole in the sand.  And unbeknownst to me at the time I took the photo, there's a Cowry shell hiding on the rock behind it:

As I've said, one never knows what will show up in the photo until it gets home.

And a box fish for my sweetie:

Run, Box Fish, run!

Octopus was hunting!

I stumbled upon an octopus hunting.  Well, perhaps not stumbled! ;)
I was swimming a bit more out in the clear water, further away from people.  Armed of course with my camera, I saw an adult Rock Mover Wrasse down below, probably 18 feet below me.  Once I looked closer, I saw that the Wrasse wasn't trying to move rocks, but an octopus!

As I said, the depth was bigger than I'm used to, so the fish and octopus aren't as clear and close as I would have liked. In fact, some of the movies I took didn't turn out well because the depth was greater but also the waves were moving me around.  Go figure.

 Above, the octopus is putting out a leg to search for food.  

I probably spent at least 20 minutes hovering above this octopus.  In fact, I was probably lucky to be farther away, since I didn't disturb the octopus.  However, the Wrasse did!  I have seen fish swim on their sides against the bottom, but this wrasse swam and rubbed against the octopus!  It kept on rubbing itself against the poor octopus.  Not sure why.

Calling this one "No I don't want to talk!"

Such a clown face!  And peering right into the octopus, who, even though irritated by the fish, kept on putting out feelers for food.

Finally, the octopus had had enough:

He thwapped the fish with one of his arms.  (And by the way, if you haven't seen Finding Dory, please do!  And be sure to watch all the way through the credits, because the octopus is featured in those too....and it's on DVD and Blue Ray now.)  I have seen octopuses do this before: they put up with irritation for a while, but eventually they put their arm out to strike at the offending fish.  I love it.
 Once I dragged myself away from the octopus, I saw a nice Yellow Tail Coris.

C'mon, can you get colors any better than these?!


 This is the fish that is red with white polka dots when it is a juvenile.  Who could have thought of that combo?!  (Well, God, that's who.)


I keep forgetting to include the sunrise clouds BEFORE the snorkeling:

I was also gifted by seeing a couple of pinktail durgons.  They are shy, so it's hard to get a shot that totally shows how beautiful they are. But here's today's attempt with the duo:

Again, the depth was working against me, but if you click on the photo, you should be able to see both.

In this shot, you can not only see the colorful tail and clear fins with black outline, but also the mouth with those teeth.

And, as has become my custom, as soon as the rose bush blooms, I take a photo, so I don't miss anything:

And later in the day, it had water drops on it:

Another colorful design and execution....

Just can't let go of the octo-experience!

You can see the wrasse still flying around the octopus, which in this case was clinging to the coral head, with all his legs strewn around...and no, don't know it's a male. 










And surprisingly, today I'll finish with the Humu....a very tiny one, probably about 2 inches long.

Eagle Eye Challenge!

For some reason, their coloration is muted when they are small.  Love those mysteries!

Monk Seal Video

https://youtu.be/xb3CZJb8kwg

This is the link to the Monk Seal Video!
Enjoy

A breezy couple of days with seals

My pal had warned me that the ocean was wavy down south, so I went to swim, prepared for bad vis and pushing waves. Because of this, I waited until the sun was well up before I got in: into the Kiddie Pond.

Since there were no other people in the water, and because the tide was rising, I didn't choose to visit the Big Pond.  When the tide is rising, sometimes the current can move you where you might not want to go, i.e., downstream to one of the hotels!

But I am glad I swam yesterday, since there were seals and a flounder. A cute little one, no bigger than my hand:

I'm glad they have the pattern that they do: otherwise, I'd never be able to sort them out from the sand.

AWWWW.  These two seals were frolicking.
And yesterday, there were another two; I erroneously thought they were Mom and baby.  I'm told that the mom leaves the baby at 8 weeks. When a baby shows up on the beach, they close the beach, so that no one is disturbed!  Apparently, if irritated, the Mom will leave the baby and not come back.

With the duo below, I at first thought, seeing from the other side: Why are the fins at both ends of that seal?!  Of course, it was because the 2nd one, being smaller, couldn't be seen until I got a different angle.  I did think that was a baby, but was later told it was two males, frolicking and then sleeping.  I have been having some internet trouble, but if it doesn't take forever, I'll upload the movie...there are grunts and throat clearing noises.  Pretty funny because the smaller one looks up, like: Hey Shut UP!  I'm trying to catch some zzzzs here!

Sorry to be mixing up the days.  This little guy appeared, at first making me think a piece of seaweed was floating toward me.  But it was a tiny Sergeant Major fish:

Doesn't it remind you of Finding Nemo?  The little guy must have thought I was a refuge, because it stayed with me, about 6 inches away for a few minutes.  So cute.

Sorry, buddy! I'm not a floating raft of seaweed where you can hide!







Since I'm jumping all around anyway, here's a real smiley cloud. I had to run for the camera when I saw it:

Isn't that odd?

Not sure if you can see the 3 little Cornet Fishes...one is bending.  They are silvery in color and are about the width around as a skinny pencil. Very cute.  I often find youngsters in the sandy area near the beach.







And from Saturday, God's Rays:

And from yesterday, a crab hiding in a white shell.  It seems way too big for him/her!

I am constantly amazed at what is in shells.  I rarely see the original animal.

Palms for my sweetheart:

















And also for him, the lizard fish, hiding quite well.  After this shot, it flew off and then buried itself in the sand.  I couldn't keep track of it after that.

You can see just the head and the tail part.

We also had 6 beach baptisms!  What a great thing that was.   A bit wavy, but still great.  And since 4 were kids, I won't put in their pix, but they were all smiles.

Sunrise at the beach.  I like how the closer palm tree seems so ginormous!






I did find two octopuses yesterday, so that was a thrill.  One was hiding in a heart shaped hole in the bottom.



And seals.  It was so cute, how they touched each other with a flipper....just joshing around:

It's also neat that they sleep head to "toe"...

And here's the movie: Enjoy! Apparently, it's too big for blogger.  I'll try through youtube.  Check back at youtube...ask for octopigirl7 in a few.

Taking Mr. Eel out for a stroll

Doesn't it look as if the Trevally is taking Mr. Eel for a stroll? 

I caught sight of the trev first and figured it was circling for a reason..and it was.  Unfortunately, it wasn't an octopus it was circling, but an eel isn't a bad choice, either.  The eel, having had enough of the trevally, took off and the fish followed.  That's what they do!

A friend at church commented the other day that it's hard to get a photo of the moon.  See what you think:

The palm tree was actually taken last night...and the rainbow this morning.  See the moon in the upper left?  That's the trick I use: take a photo of something else in the frame and catch the moon as a by-product..Love the rainbow.  As I popped up to take a little extra breath, there it was. Nice surprise.





I saw another surprise: a black leaf fish!  Sadly, it was kinda deep in this area and when I dove down, I wasn't really successful in catching it on film.  

It's the black at the bottom.  It has a big fin on its back and it waves in the current, just like a leaf.  

Really sorry I didn't catch a better shot.  The thing was really cool.  A lot like a black leaf.....

Two octopuses today!  Here's the first one:

This was a small one, as was the surprising 2nd one, about a yard away.  I noted the rock with coral that was near them, so hopefully by the weekend, I'll be able to look for them again.  But who knows?  Those darn octopus rarely stay in one place for long.

The bumpy white and brown is the head.  If you click on it, you might be able to see the eye.


And surprise octopus #2:

Since they are cannibalistic, I sure hope one doesn't find and eat the other!  They were both the same size, so maybe they were siblings.

When I finally left the octopuses alone (which was a struggle: one always thinks that the next fab photo is just around the corner..), I saw the blue spined unicorn:

While it's not my favorite fish, I do like its clean lines, bright blue spikes on the tail and the unicorn horn. Who says Unicorns don't exist?!?!?!










Also in the big pond was a nice flounder.  Or as we call it at our house, a floundrah.  Since I gave it away, I guess it cannot really be an Eagle Eye Challenge:

OK, got it?  Yeah, yeah, I know, it's practically the same color as the sand.  That's the point; it's a survival technique. 

It's resting on top of the rock...













I will have to look this up, but I think it's a half beak (not sure diff between half beak and needlefish)

Darn hard to catch on film, too, because it stays on the surface.  Well, near it...
This one was by itself, which is odd for needlefish, and it was big, too, so that could be another factor.  I'll let you know..









And the following group of photos had me mystified at first. See if you can see what I was capturing on camera (I guess I can't say I captured it on film anymore...digital has changed so much.)

Yeah, it's another juvenile Rock Mover Wrasse.  Who doesn't love a plaid fish?! I won't bore you with the others, but it was really hard to tell, without enlarging the shot, what I was trying to catch.

I did see another Barracuda, slinking along in the water:

If you see the black on the tail, follow it up and to the left.  The head is furthest from me...I prefer it that way!

And by they way, they are nothing like in the movies.  Well, they have the biggish teeth and look mean, but I've never had one even attempt to intercept me.  In fact, they swim the other way.  After all, I am a lot bigger, even if my teeth aren't...Additionally, I usually see them on their own, not in a group.

Near the shore, I saw a pile of minnows...have no idea what kind of fish they were, but minnows were what we called them in lakes in Michigan:

They are the small dots in the water.  They were moving somewhere....














More Cowry shells were hiding, too:

There were 3 or 4 more just around in the rocks like this one: hiding.

And I found a Common Box Crab (I think); Hawaiian name is Pokipoki.  Love the language: it's full of cool sounds.

If it's not moving, it looks a LOT like a white rock.  And since there are lots of those around in the kiddie pond, it's hard to see it unless it moves.  The line at the bottom of the animal is the place where it folds its two arms into its body.  The eyes are white and about in the middle of the line.  It ran from me too, so I could see its legs.




I'll check back with you on the weekend.....Til then, have a great week!