Go that way if you want to see fish!

As I neared the end of the Sunday dive, a cute little boy swam up to me, tapped me and said "Go that way if you want to see fish!" How adorable. Of course, I'd been seeing fish all along, so it wasn't surprising. But he was so excited.  So I thanked him.  If I told him I was trying to see octopuses, he probably would have followed me, hoping.  Anyway, it was cute.  And I didn't see octopuses anyway.  Two days, no he'e! But as I told God, I enjoy the swim anyway.  I am always a bit disappointed when I don't see octopuses, but I am thankful for the swim.  I did see some cool stuff, so it wasn't like there were no neat things to spot.

Hiding eel.  He's the brown part, inside the hole, wrapped around the rock. No wonder I didn't see any octopuses!!!

Money Cowry. It is SO tempting to pick 'em up! I don't think I have any of these at home.  But I didn't.  I do try to be good.

This is why lots of folks don't see Leaf Fish.  The big rock, at the bottom. You can see it, kinda light green...leaning one "paw" on the rock. They are good at disguise.

Christmas Wrasse.  Just occurred to me that it is brightly colored, but as far as I know, not poisonous.  So I guess that "bright colors" means "leave me alone" isn't always the case.

A friend, in town from North Carolina, said these Rock Mover Wrasse fish look like they have makeup on. HAHAHA. 

I think this is a yellow phase of the Orange Shoulder Surgeon Fish. Correct me if I'm wrong!

This Spanish Dancer might be about to crawl off a cliff. I don't know how their eyesight is, but I hope it doesn't get poked.

 Trunk Fish. Alex and I really love these..

As we do the Lizard fish.

 This neat 4 spot butterfly was about 2 inches long. Awesomely cute!

Can you see the scorpion fish? It has its right fin on the red rock. They, like the Leaf Fish, are really good hiders.

As is this box crab! I would NEVER have spotted it if it hadn't moved.  It's the middle "rock"..you can see the slightly opened mouth. And 2 eyes just below the mouth in this photo.

Cowry near a drupe.  I don't think either would eat the other..i hope.

 This is the same Cowry that I found yesterday.  In the same general area.

This large Cone shell was in the rocks between the big pond and the little pond.  I spotted it just as I was pulled over into the big pond! So this is the best photo I got, as I couldn't find it again when I fought the current and went back over...nice big cone and definitely filled with the real animal. You can see it near the bottom of the shell, inside.

Today's trash and shell and operculum haul.  Thankfully, I didn't see any yucky trash (paper, old shoes, dental bridge...yes I have found one of those. No lie!)

So no octopuses were spotted, but I have heard that since we have so many seals, turtles and of course, that lifeguard that hunts 'em, I'm not surprised.  Perhaps God will show me some next week. Thanks for the safety, God!

And speaking of God, please pray for my friend with cancer, when you can take a moment. She is having hospice care at home now. 

Ah the lovely flowers

Flowers are never my true, first purpose, but I so rarely find octopus when I'm at work or on our walk! ha.

Breadfruit. On our morning walk. I recently cooked some (french fried in coconut oil. Yum) National Tropical Botanical Garden is starting a huge breadfruit project. 

Plumeria and my fave pink flower. Which believe it or not, I don't know the name of...bad, bad octopigirl7!

I got almost all the telephone poles out of this low flying clouds picture of the mountains.

Palms and clouds for my sweetheart.

When I saw these in the community garden, I wondered what the plan was. But I recently saw a Keiki Camp project at the Garden and they used forks to keep dirt from washing away.  Not sure if this is done for the same reason.

 More palms and clouds.

More pink.

 Oh, we suffer so, living on Kauai! HA

 A nice tree at the entrance to our complex. 

 Palms, plumeria, clouds.

 Turtle butt and waves. The pond closest to the turtle is where I swam. The deeper part had the waves blowing up!

 Yes, it was a strong current and still, some people went in...

If you click on this photo, you might be able to see the little hairs of the flower in the center...maybe designed to scrape pollen off a bee so the flower can reproduce? Just sayin' maybe..Enjoy whatever flowers and turtles you may have around YOU!

The Rip Continues

Today there was not only high tide, but the rip still continued...so I didn't venture into the adult part of the pond, but stayed in the kiddie side.  Saw lots of cool fish anyway, but no 8 legged cephalopods. Ah well, with my knee acting up, I was fortunate to be able to swim at all.

Can you see the pencil thin cornet fish? Some are reflected on the sandy bottom.

 Eagle Eye challenge: find the 2 Cowry shells above.

 Brighteye Chromis and his Convict Tang pals.

Christmas Wrasse....only 5 months until the real thing!

Two cone shells. I do hope the one isn't planning to eat the other one.  They are cannibals, I'm told.

This Cowry was really well hidden, as there was no evident pattern on its back. I didn't note what it was until I saw the opening (to the right.) Same shell below, from underneath. And it was occupied, I do believe. You can tell if the shell feels heavy to the touch.

What could be a Hawaiian Swimming Crab.  This Saddle Wrasse was totally harassing it, trying to get a bite in edgewise.

Red eyes...to the right.

Another crab (lower left) and some Turban Shell pieces.  No wonder I find operculum, as that is the main shell that uses them, in my experience.

Eagle Eye Challenge #2: See the Juvenile Rock Mover Wrasse?  And come to think of it, I didn't see any of the adults.  Odd.  Maybe they were all playing in the deeper pond today...with the octopuses. I also didn't see any seals on the beach, but there were turtles.  

 I think this rock is pretty...lots of colors.

 Blue spined Unicorn fish.

 And a lizard fish for my sweetheart.

Left and below, the white Leaf Fish. See how it leans between two rocks?

They rock to and fro in the current. It can be a challenge to get a good shot, especially since they are usually located in a crevice.

 Blenny.  I think of them as plaid, but they probably have a real name.

And Cone Shell. Probably about an inch from top to bottom. Still have poison though!

Two turtles snoozing...Thankfully, the protective lines were up and people were behaving. Thank you, folks!