Opposite destinations

The Cowry in situ

These cute little Indo Pacific Damsel fish were passing each other in the daytime...Seconds earlier, they had been going the same way.

And there may have been two octopuses...but I saw the "second" one in the same general area and it was the same size as #1, so they might have been the same octopus. I'm happy with seeing one, so it's good either way.

It looks upside down, but it was really just how I swam around it...

This was possible octopus #2...you can see the siphon and the eyes..bumps on either side of its head. There was lots of sand in the water, so it's not a fab photo...

And this one I call "OH"

It looks rather surprised to see me! Not sure why: it had been following me.  Maybe just camera shy..

Saw more of this size Bluefin Trevally when we swam on Oahu.  They are amazing in their speed, but their eyes never really interact with me. They just swim through...

 Box fish for Alex and cleaner wrasses working.

 I gotta call them minnows, because I have no clue what kind of fish they were.  But they were pretty and moved totally as a school, darting through the water.

This is today's mystery. The shell is a Bubble shell, but I so far can't tell what was inside it.  So I had to leave it there..

This is a different kind of cowry shell, but on my glove. Empty! So it came home with me.

Someone else had eaten this lobster...raw....ewwww. They only turn bright orange after cooking.

It's the Rock Mover Wrasse and the octopus.  I often see the two together.  in fact, I've started looking for Rock Mover Wrasses just so I can check whether there's an octopus nearby.  And there was.

And now, let's go to the Garden now...my view from the office.  Tough job, eh?

The flowers above are visible if I walk down the sidewalk at the office.  Wish I had this green thumb!

Now, back to the ocean.

 This seal on the island slept until another smaller one joined it. Then they both took naps.

Three spot damsel near its coral head.

A crab trying to get into someone else's shell. Look for its yellow eyes..on stalks.

 Snakeshead Cowry...so shiny.

The possible 2nd octopus...siphon and the eye just above and to the left.  The eye has white lines radiating from it.

Here's the first and 2nd seal. They were both on the island, so no one bothered their naps..

It was really hard to get out of the water! So pretty.

Two bright eye damsel fish.  So adorable.  We are still having the extremely tiny ones, about the size of my little finger's nail....They are all equally fast.

Eels in holes...and an octopus builds its home!

OK, So I cannot prove this octopus put these rocks around its den...but it sure looked like it to me!

Needless to say, I was thrilled to spot this octopus, having not seen one yesterday. Even more thrilled to see that it was near the shore and apparently had built itself a little home, with rock walls and all. I must have been too far above it, too, because it hardly moved.  Well, continued to breathe of course, but other than that, nada!
And two eels in holes.  Separately.

Not sure what the first one was, but the 2nd was def a snowflake eel. Just another good reason not to put your hand in any holes. Even if you THINK it's empty.
Nice shell, which I left there:

Maybe 3/4 inch long.











Trunk fish:

Scooting along.
And a red goby. I've been seeing more of these...

Not sure if these have been here all along or are a new addition. At any rate, perhaps I missed them in my octo-quests.

This is the fish that guards coral.  And not sure what the green fish was.  I didn't see it until I got these pix home...

And a leftover from fishermen:

Instead of using lead, they use a golf ball.  It had a lure screwed into its exterior. I also picked up 3 separate fishing lines that had been left by fishermen. When the line breaks off, they do not come in to retrieve it! I try always to pick these lines up, since I do carry scissors, so they don't snag on anything else. The golf ball came home with me and now resides in the trash...

My best guess on this is that it's waste from some marine animal. The symmetry amazes me:

Wild, huh? I try hard to imagine what animal could make this, but so far, am coming up empty.






And last but not least, a surprise turtle! I see it, looked shocked, take a quick picture and go the other way. This one was BIG!

It didn't some into the beach...perhaps too may sunbathers there. Nice swim. After all, there was an octopus! Thanks, God.

Magic Carpet Ride....

OK, for those of you old enough to remember Steppenwolf (the music guy...), here's a picture for ya:

Doesn't it look as if this Peacock flounder is on a magic carpet ride?

He needed lifesaving too (I guess I am an animal lifeguard), because this was taken near the place where people get in and out of the kiddie pond in Poipu and a man was backing up without looking...while walking on the sandy bottom.  I told him he was about to walk on a flounder and his wife took in a breath as if she were horrified.  Well, I was too, but he did stop and apologize.  It's all good.


For those of you not old enough to remember that music, think of Aladdin and his magic carpet. Same thing...

Pretty clouds, too:

 

God does amazing things.  I don't know much about how clouds are actually formed, but I enjoy thinking that Jesus is up there, painting.  He has quite an imagination, too.

I am working on getting to know my new computer..without Photoshop! :(
I was going to print this with the Brighteye Chromis enlarged, but it's not to be.  (One place I don't want to add stress is in my blog.)
So look at the middle of the photo, perhaps click on it to enlarge, and you'll see the little fish, that's so quick, it is usually hidden by the time I get my camera turned on.  





Two octopuses! Our condo is being painted, and rather than sit around the house, listening to off-key whistling, I thought: Hey! Why not go swim?  Darlin' Darlin' had to go to Poipu to work, so I caught a ride.  Unfortunately, his work got canceled, so he got to stroll around as I swam, unbeknownst to me...I was happily enjoying all the animals:
Octopus #1:

I only saw this guy because it was moving around the pink rock that in this picture looks as if it's about to fall on its head!  But really, it was moving the rock with its tentacles, rearranging the furniture.  And people wonder if octopuses are tool users.  OF COURSE they are!!
Octopus #2:

In between two coral heads.  Just sitting there. This was in the deeper part, again, so I wasn't able to get too close.
I think this might be the same octopus that was around the Rock Mover Wrasse a few snorkels ago...Glad to see it's still around.







Speaking of Rock Movers, here's a juvenile, looking all seaweedy:

Isn't it amazing that later, they look like this?:

Cruising with the bluefin trevally.  Not sure why this Rock Mover wanted to rub against the bottom.  Seemed oddly unproductive, but there's a huge chance I just am not tuned into the fish way of things.









I was also treated to a glimpse of the Hawaiian Hog Fish, a fairly rare sighting.  OK, I haven't seen any since I've been back on Kauai:

Pretty yellow, stripes, and that black on its back.  There were 2 Pinktail Durgon following it, but it darted under a rock.  It had a piece of white-something in its mouth, so I'm guess they were trying to steal its prey.

A lovely fish.  Usually very shy, but I found several willing to be photographed.  Well, okay, they really didn't have much choice.
A Box and Rocks:

 And for my Marine Corps sweetheart, Happy Marine Corps Birthday, babe!

I know I started with the flounder, but this shows hiding in the sand....at one point, I really couldn't see it, because it blended in so well.
Blue Wana:

I haven't been able to capture the blue color before.  My fave color of all time.

If you see these, please don't touch.  Those spines will hurt you.  Just another reason I'm surprised people walk around on the bottom.  A self-preservation nightmare.

Another of my fave fish: The Ambon Puffer.  Also one of the very few that I remember the other name for it: Canthigaster Amboienensis! (OK, I did have to go online and look up the correct spelling of that last part...can't lie.)

 I know it's not a great photo, but I love the blue color on the ventral fin...electric blue.

What a treat!

I did catch a shot of the needle fish

 They do look at ya!

Told you that the Flounder camouflage is good.  

Must be off to cook breakfast for my Marine.  Happy Marine Corps birthday, men and women!  And thank you for your service!