5 octopuses - a day late!

I normally try to post a swimming experience on the same day. I have found that if I wait until the next day, some of the immediacy has gone. But I was too into prep for the possible hurricane to type and post anything yesterday. As it is, I won't be swimming tomorrow or probably the whole weekend, as we are expecting big surf, so I better do this post while it is at least somewhat fresh:

So five octopuses. Yay! Including one really small one, which always makes me smile:

Aww. So cute! This one didn't like me looking, but didn't change to angry maroon until much later.

The one below was #1. Always a good thing, as that helps me know they are still out there.

Sometimes, when they hide in their holes, they get sand on themselves. Perhaps they think it helps with the camouflage!

 You can see how they hide....or maybe you can't! Look down from the red rock...you'll see pale brown and white and an octo-eye, near the lower right of the photo.

 Here's the angry brown I referred to above. This one was hidden in its den and had seen me a few times before. Really, I don't harass them, other than taking their photo!

Sometimes, I have to drag myself away from taking more photos, as if I think they may care. Actually, they may care, so I do try not to stay lurking over them for too long.

 I was surprised to see this Abudefduf...it was the one that I had noted a week or so ago, that had a chunk bitten out of it. Glad to see it had weathered the injury well.

 One without the chunk taken out.

 A black Leaf Fish. It was in a cleft in the rock, so it wasn't that easy to spot. If you have any trouble, look for the blue on the right of the photo...the blue is on its right fin.

 A small 3 spot damsel, protecting its coral head. They are tiny!

 The two Indo Pacific Damsel fish that are headed in the same direction were possibly doing a mating dance. They darted up to the surface, then down, then up again. A smarter blogger would have taken video. I'm rarely accused of being smart.

Goat Fish are so "regular" that I rarely take their picture, but this one had some nice purple coloration, so I made an exception.

 This humu was about 2 inches long. Adorable! But feisty. It kept darting toward the hole to its right, in an attempt to hide.

 Nice shell, possibly a basket. But don't quote me.

 You can see a few of my faves in this one: the pencil urchin, the little blenny and on the right, a brighteye chromis. I don't normally have so many neat things in the same photo, so I snapped it up.

 Pencil urchins.

 My pal, the Rock Mover Wrasse! I thought the light on it was pretty. These are the fish that often associate with octopuses.

A snoozing seal on the island. Thankfully, I didn't have to give any lectures on seal niceties.

 I am not sure why some fish like to hang out near eels, but the Trevally do this too. Here a Saddle Wrasse joins in.

This eel was giving me what for. Regardless of how this looks, they don't normally challenge swimmers. But I wouldn't advise walking around on the bottom either. This is definitely the most prevalent eel I see regularly.

 A nice Turban Shell, and since it was in good condition, I couldn't tell if anyone was living in it, so I put it down again. This is the shell that makes the operculum that I collect.

 Here's the same shell once I deposited it down on the ocean floor again. 

I'll keep you up to date on the progress of Hurricane Lane. Please pray with me that we don't get blasted! And thanks for reading.