Mr. Bumpy

Snorkeled after church...tired! So I'll show some pix and maybe say something. God is good!
Mr. Bumpy: #1 and only octopus! Thankful:

The brown one actually shows its eye.  The other one does too, actually, but the bumps are more evident in photo #2.  The eye has faint white lines radiating out from it.  This guy was hiding very well! I think it's the same one I saw yesterday....glad it made it through. Hiding can be life preserving.  Especially with seals in the area:

Oh yeah, forgot about the turtle that was snoozing too...

The snorkeler was almost too close.... I love when the seals sleep on their backs! Shows their golden tummy.

Clouds looked like rain..and it arrived about 10 minutes later...

Look for the drop that bounced up.

Another drop bouncing up, but also the puddle left by one that dropped a second earlier..that's what the circles are. Shout out to the Olympus TG-2 camera!
Cleaning station:

One cleaner per fish....

Gotta love those patterns. 
Juvenile Rock Mover Wrasse

Doesn't God do some crazy patterns?! Crazy COOL!

Cowry shell on some colorful rocks

Christmas wrasse, showing its colors
Moorish Idols:

One day, I hope to get a closeup of a face...they almost have eyelashes!











And for sweetie-bumps:

A nice male Trunk Fish...fleeing....

You'll need to really look, but it's 2 biggish Bluefin Trevally swimming quickly through the scene..no really!

3 spot Chromis...These are the coral guards.  Note the small wrasse at the left of the photo...

Nice Snowflake Moray Eel, trying to hide.

A very well hidden Sculpin Scorpion Fish:

It will look upside down.  The eye is on the left. It's hiding in a hole.

Nice shell. 

It amazes me how many cone shells I see!  I don't remember ever seeing one with the animal out...probably for the best. I do think they hunt at night. DO NOT pick these up! But if you must move it, move the fat end...the skinny end is where the animal can come out to pierce your fingers..poison too!

Points to ponder.

I want to end with pretty, not poison, so here's a little 4 spot butterfly. It had a pal, but I only caught one.  

Another nice swim.  Thanks for viewing!

Rock mover wrasse leads the way again

Once again, the Rock Mover Wrasse led the way to an octopus!

The Wrasse is near the rock and the octopus at the top of the frame.  The poor octopus was pestered by this fish! It kept trying to rub itself against the octopus.  Maybe trying to show authority? 

You can see the octopus, about 2 inches to the left of the fish. These fish are awesome: very tough and picking up rocks at least half as big as they are and throwing them around. Ooh and I almost forgot to say: go to youtube and search for octopigirl7 . You'll see at least the octopus.

Also saw a very nice Cornet fish:

It looks as if it's being led by the trevally, but really, it was just cruising for food.

A pair of Barred File Fish swam by, but this photo shows just one..

Just love those sock monkey eyes! And the little Saddle Wrasse kept pace with it. Not sure why..I've never seen one follow like this.

There were several eels.  I hate to say it, but don't know the type this one was:

See it?

You will probably need to click on the photo.  Some of these animals blend right in...

Lizard fish face:

They blend in with the sand....it's hard to see them when they are mostly buried. And speaking of hard to see, I would never have seen this Devil Scorpion Fish if it hadn't moved:

You'll see the orange of the partially opened side fin.  Follow the body above to the left and that's the head.  To the right...the tail. Yeah, good camouflage!

I agree, a face only a mother could love! The mouth is slightly agape, just to the left of the rock on the right hand side....You can see a side fin just above the red rock on the bottom of the photo.  

This shy octopus was near the beach, hiding in a hole in the coral/rock.  See the siphon?  The little white ring inside the hole is its breathing tube. Very shy. And it was #2.

And now for the shells:

Turban Shell (the shell belonging to all the operculum):

And a Drupe:

And a Cowry:

And last, but not least, the Cone Shells:

Hiding underneath a rock. These I generally don't pick up, unless they are broken in half. That way, I know there's no poisonous animal still inside. Here's another, Flea Bite Cone, buried in the sand:

Urchin, having bored a hole in the rock...

Christmas Wrasse.  These guys are so fast, it's hard to get a really nice shot, but i keep trying because the colors are so great:

They are amazing when the light hits 'em just right.

Check the upper hole for claws...Not sure if it's a shrimp or a crab.  Sorry, octopuses are more my thing!

And a good Rock Mover Wrasse photo:

They are very bend-y and i like the green eyes...

And of course, seals:

Snoozing.  Natch!

Looking oh so comfy. There were protective signs and ropes around the seal, which I was able to crop out. 

Another eel:

They often do this: hide in a hole and wait for prey. 

Electric Blue crab inside a shell.  Walking around with your house on your back!

Loved this dive. Nice water, good animals and nobody got hurt. It's all good.

Two octopuses

What a wonderful day in the water.  Didn't see any octopuses in the Big Pond, but saw 2 in the Kiddie Pool....doesn't matter where.. this octopus noticed me right away.  

And number 2:

This photo was cropped from the original...I don't have the luxury of getting this close!!

I was treated to 3 seals and a turtle:

You almost miss the 3rd one, as he is lying on his back, showing only the sandy colored tummy.  When I saw this group from the water, I thought it was 4 seals!  Three is rare enough, but 4 would have been truly amazing...From farther away, they look similar. Like lumps on the sand.

We were laughing, too, because they were blowing sand outa their noses, so it sounded funny.

Saw a very nice Pinktail Durgon, too:

You can see the clear fins, with black edging.  They fly away quickly and often are spotted going away, so it's nice to catch one from the side like this.

Two Ornate Butterfly fish: they are not exactly rare here, but I don't see them very often:

Trunk Fish:

Female and male..Both very cute fish.

Lizard fish:

This one didn't move at all...just blended in.

Money cowry on the left with sand.  Too bad the cowry was still in use.  I don't have any in my collection.  But then, as Steven Wright says, I keep my shell collection on beaches all over the world! 

Abudefduf:

It is rather amazing how different stripes can be! The Abudefduf has top to bottom stripes, but so does the Indo Pacific Damsel.  And they look so different. 

I call this one God's Power:

The lighting did vary from moment to moment.  Sun really helps, but cloudiness also gives the underwater objects a varied aspect.

He was posing just for me!  It is quite unusual for 3 males to hang out together, but the volunteer said they were all boys. Nice that they could get along.

Stout Moray:

And the Bluefin Trevally that helped me know something was there.

All in all, a very nice swim.  I'll finish up with orchids from National Tropical Botanical Garden:

Believe it or not, these beauties grown on the trees! Quite lovely way to walk to work.

Enjoy your week!