Seals, turtles, octopuses, scorpion fishes and eels...oh my!

I thought I'd start the post the same way the day started...with a Monk Seal, snoozing peacefully. I had the kind help of a visiting nice lady, who was willing to call the seal hotline to report this one, so they could come and put up tape to protect it from prying fingers. There were also two turtles (honu), also:

One of the two already snoozing when I walked from the deep side to the kiddie pond.

 The honu above totally surprised me! It appeared to my right side as I was bobbing up and down in the deep side. Of course, I got out of its way.

Another bigger turtle snoozing.

This honu looked to be the same size as the one above that surprised me. What also surprised me when I got home to look at the pix was that it appears to maybe have tumors near its armpit. Or at least something attached to it! I shall have to report it, as they can sometimes capture the turtle and take the possibly harmful things off....

Two octopuses. Yay. I never get tired of seeing them.

 Look for its eye in the photo above...red "eyelid".

Neither octopus appeared too bothered by my presence, which I why I didn't get too close. I hate it when they turn brown and slink away into their dens.

Yellow Tailed Coris. Is it just me or are these a wonderful combination of colors and stripes and spots?!

 I popped up and saw some nice white clouds and a rainbow in one of them.

 Here's the rainbow. I didn't say it was easy to spot.

 Cone shell near the in-between part...yes, I was bobbing for operculum.

 This poor cornet fish had a chunk taken out of it, but appeared to be fine.

Cowry shell hiding in some rocks.

 Lizard fish in the Kiddie Pond for my sweetheart. And the male Trunk fish below is for him too. Note the difference in the water quality. The Trunk fish was in the earlier morning hours, before the sun really came out.

 The pencil urchins were hiding again, between two rocks.

The seal gave up on a nap and started to swim into the kiddie pond. It's the long dark line just above the rock in the water on the right.

 Spanish Dancer nudibranch. The "naked lungs" are on the right hand side of the photo. The "head" is on the left, with its two antenna....not sure what a scientist would call them. Certainly not "the pokey out things.."

 Threatening Clouds and waves. Yes, I watched carefully before getting in. It is never smart to go in when no one else is there, but that's my fave time, as no one has scared the octopuses yet. 

 I was able to have a very nice chat with a young lady from Southern California. She had recently visited the Galapagos islands! Snorkeling! They saw sharks and enjoyed the beauty of the area. I apologized for the condition of our reef...too many people for good coral.

Ze Devil Fish. My hubby likes that name....otherwise known as Devil Scorpion Fish. This one was hiding its head, so I couldn't get a good complete shot.

I did have some eel pictures, but I'm ashamed to say I missed the fight: two eels of different types flew out of the rocks between and darted at each other. Unfortunately, my camera finger was too slow to capture that. But it did make me more careful when picking up the operculum. One never knows what lurks under those rocks.

Enjoy God's wonderful creations! and please respect the distance from seals and honu....thanks.