I stay tired!

In Hawaii, there are many expressions that don't really get used on the mainland. One of them is the title of this post! People can say I stay hungry, or I stay happy. But in this case, I stay tired because I not only swam for 2 and a half hours, but I was happily taking pictures the whole time. Which means over 700 pictures. What can I say? The octopuses let me.....
Seven octopuses, that is. I am tired, but happy.

The octopus, just the eyes and head, are just to the right of the red rock. It was peeking at me!

This is the same octopus that I have seen for a few days now. And that said, I was still quite happy to see it because it appeared within 5 minutes of me entering the water. It sounds stupid to say there is stress in finding that first octopus, but it's the truth: I do HATE getting skunked and seeing none.

Not just for selfish reasons, but if I see no octopuses, it makes me think the seals or people have been hunting the octopuses for reasons I don't approve of. Not that it's all about me, but...

 With all the gunk in the water at this spot, it is hard to tell that there is an octopus, but trust me, it was in there hiding. I saw the suckers as well as movement.

Another hard to see one, this is the same octopus (#3) that has been hiding its den with rocks. But at least in this one, you can see the brown and white of the skin, just above the lavender rocks. It's possible I'm getting mixed up on the counting.

This also is an octopus I saw the other day. The sand was blowing through the scene, but you can see its eye, in the middle of the shot.

#5 hiding in its den. It's the brown part just below the little green rock.

The octopus is in the upper third of the photo. I put in the Humu so you could get an idea of the octopus size. I think the majority of the octopuses I'm currently seeing are not fully adult. (Size differential.)

 Getting a suntan. (Did you ever wonder if other animals in addition to humans get sunburnt? Like cows...octopuses...fish...)

Hiding in the den.

 I liked this photo of #6 because of the purple. The purple eye is to the left of the purple siphon. The other eye is lower down at the edge of the den. 

Just to give you another idea of what I see when I first spot an octopus. Luckily, this one was partially out of its den. (It's the brown part in the middle of all the gray.)

Number 7 is the very nice pretty close to adult octopus that let me take photos yesterday. Today I took over 200 pix of this one. I even put one little movie of it moving its lets on youtube (look for octopigirl7).

Again, I took the photo so you could compare the Saddle Wrasse size with the octopus. Of course, it is in its den, so not a perfect comparison.

 I love seeing the suckers. This one wraps its legs around its head, I guess for protective purposes.

In this one, the eye is way inside the arms...you can see it at the inside top of the "D" the arm makes.

 Rastapus! The sun on the water makes all the cool colors.

 Different light on the octopus. I think the little thin white part at the top of the octopus is the very small, end part of its leg....which had just been cleaning its eye. Truly, it is NOT possible to catch all the good stuff on camera.

This octopus had its legs wrapped around 3 times.  

I think of this as "shoulders", but really its just legs wrapped around. You can see the two eyes...it was peeking at me, after I moved from one side of it to the other. They have life affirming habits and watch predators carefully. (And no, I would NEVER eat one! I must admit though as being tempted to try to touch one lately, but don't do that either. I think of it as if I were sitting in my home and a huge came down in my living room and touched me on the head. I would jump about a foot up in the air!)

Hope this very cooperative octopus is still in the same spot on my next swim! (Of course, you may be tired of it by then.)

A pair of Raccoons

Christmas Wrasse a bit ahead of the season.

 I call these David and Goliath. This tiny Brighteye Chromis was actually darting at the much larger octopus hiding in the den. Crazy little fish...

 Drupe shell hanging onto the coral, with urchin next door.

 Pinktail Durgon. Whenever the photo looks like this, it means I took it out in the deeper part, so the water isn't as clear.

 An eel for my sis-in-law Sue.

Hawkfish hanging in the downward dog pose.

 The first picture of the lizard fish was taken later, but I wanted to give you a chance to see it as it hides. I surprised this fish, so it shot away, only to dig into the sand a minute later. Which they do and is probably the reason I didn't see it at first. The "nose" is very near the rock at the upper right.

 Trunk or Box fish...this one is male.

I didn't intend this photo to be blurry, but I took it because the man was so much taller than the baby....I don't put people in my posts as a general rule, so it worked out. I thought the duo very cute.

Almost a full moon in the morning.

If you click on the one below, you can see some of the markings on the moon.

 This snoozing seal was sleeping when I arrived and continued to do so after I left. It was roped off and people were being respectful, which is always nice.

 Pencil urchins. Love the color.

 Another Pinktail Durgon, closer up. 

This Porcupine puffer darted away. I couldn't swim fast enough to really catch up for a good photo.

 Rastapus of the day. I think this octopus is #6 as already photographed above.

 The red eye of the Rock Mover Wrasse.

A seal sleeping on the rocks. I can't imagine how hard it is to get up on those rocks. Seals are amazingly athletic in the water, but much slower on land...

 Stripes....incredible how different stripes can be.

Oops. White Rump Shama in a tree. They have a lovely song. 

 I call this Evolution My Eye! What survival plan requires all those cool colors? Seems kinda far away from a big bang....

So as I was standing taking photos of the sleeping seal this morning, a young man holding a coconut asked me if he could feed it to the seal. As I was saying NO! he smiled and said just kidding. But here's what the seal did:

Totally woke up and looked up, as if to say "Coconut? Did someone mention coconut?"

 Then he looked around....

And it looks as if he were laughing. I sure did!

I am thankful to God not only for the many octo-sightings, but for the fact that, for the most part, people stayed off the reef. Well, there were two guys who walked with their reef walkers, but after a short discussion, they swam off. I guess people just don't realize the damage their feet can cause! Like the lady who, long ago in Hanauma Bay, announced that she could walk anywhere on the bottom, because she had on reef walkers! I think that post was called "unclear on the concept". It might have been so long ago to be on my old wordpress blog.....Someone I know would say "Can't kill 'em..." 

But I have been known to linger in an area in a protective way if people are walking where I know there's an octopus. It's just my thing...

Thanks for reading and enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend!