A new record in octo-viewings: 10!!! It took 2 hours and 45 minutes, but very happy with the viewings today. Here are the best shots:
As you know, octopuses are experts at hiding. The octopus above is about in the middle of the photo.
This octopus picked a really great place to hide...but the Brighteye Chromis saw it!
You get a bit of rainbow, as well as the eye and suckers in the shot above.
More rainbow, as well as eye and suckers
This one turned brown immediately.
This is the very smart octopus that pulls rocks over its den opening. (It really is in there, but very hard to see what that brown is.)
Peeking at me! I laugh into my snorkel when they do this.
In the photo below, you can see both eyes. This is an octopus I have been seeing quite often. It hides in a crack in the bottom and shrinks down when anyone comes near. VERY smart, what with all the visitors walking around in the water.
My showy octopus: #6. You can see the legs, body, eyes and siphon. This octopus is a bit larger that most of the others I've been seeing and doesn't seem to care that I'm there. I did re-visit it later though and it had shrunk down a bit...I think perhaps someone was walking on the bottom.
Same octopus, showing a bit of leg, one eye and the siphon. S/he put the red rock in front of its den.
The octopus in the one above is just up and to the right of that round hole in the coral near the middle.
Hiding, hiding always this hiding!
Nice Ambon Puffer.
Possible box jelly fish....it took me a while to decide what it was....still not purely positive, but pretty sure...I tried to get it out of the water by putting it in the mask, but it always flowed out when I tried to pour some of the water in the mask out.
Christmas Wrasse...just in time for December.
Crab hiding in a hole.
Pretty green coral
Nice Harp shell
Hebrew Cone
More shots of the possible jelly fish when I was trying to get it into the mask to take it out.
Leaf Fish
Lizard fish resting
I actually picked up this mask on the bottom....it was lodged against a rock out in the deeper water of the kiddie pond
Needle Fish
Snakeshead Cowry
A little Snowflake Moray, twisting and turning on the bottom.
I found this small Spanish Dancer on the rocks between the deep pond and the kiddie pond. Very pretty animal. I wonder what an octopus would do with one of these?
It is a nudibranch...the flowy stuff at the right end is the lungs.
Spotfin Scorpion Fish hiding
Another eye, siphon and suckers shot of octopus #6
These urchins pick up these stones, shells and other stuff to wear on their backs, I assume for protective purposes...I've even seen one pick up a bandaid and plaster it to its back. Not sure how much that contributes to their safety...
Very nice day in the water. The conditions were excellent: waves not big, so I was able to get out further in the deep end. I neglected to mention that I also found a scarf or bandanna out in the deep part. That was a bummer to try to get off the coral head it was floating around! It was about 15 feet deep I'd guess, so I kept diving down to try to get it off the coral. Eventually, I was able to use my scissors and cut all that I could get to on one breath. The only real reason to use scuba!
Oh and aren't you glad I didn't post all 727 photos? Thanks to God for the great swim and those wonderful creatures!
More rainbow, as well as eye and suckers
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