So many octopuses, I almost lost count!

Hello! I saw at least 8 octopuses...I say at least because there were two more that I wasn't sure if I'd already seen them. A good problem to have! 

I'll just throw some pix up and you can decide: mostly I can tell if the rocks surrounding the den are the same. But that doesn't work if the octopus moves! Which is what #1 did:

 This photo previous is after it flew around a bit. The one following is when I first saw it. The wrasse on the right was pestering it. (I put up the short video...https://youtu.be/ocVk3GTEaCo  )

I should send it to Ellen so she can play it while Twitch is catching his breath. ha.
I really have to hold up the fingers to count the octopus at the beginning of each octopus...that would help keep track.

 He'e in the beginning with rock mover. 



to the left of these words

 He'e with horns

 Nice light.....on its skin and eye

Siphon and bumps

 The eye is in the v of the rocks....

the white is the siphon

See how bumpy their skins can get? Eye is again in the v near the bottom

 Horns again. Eye on the left

 I actually showed an octopus to a couple today...they watched for a few seconds then swam away. How could they?! I decided perhaps they couldn't see it...or didn't care. (!!!!!)

 The siphon below shows what the water looks like after it blows water at me...all the sand gets up in it.

 Tentacles!!!! And it saw me, because it sank down into the den. A REALLY good one, too! I couldn't see any of it, as it was hiding below the rocks.

Oy, I love these animals...the octopuses, that is. 

 Above, a pair of Brighteye Damsel fish.

 Cowry hiding

 Whitemouth Moray taking a look.

 A herd of goats

Hawaiian Green Lion Fish

 And a large Honu swam by

 Juvenile Barred File fish

 Moorish Idol

Needle fish

 Pencil urchins

Young Pinktail Trigger

 Rainbow octopus. Siphon and eye just above

 Devil Scorpion Fish, hiding under an overhang.

 Seal snoozing

Snowflake Moray eel

the white line to the left of these words is the white line on its tail.

 This young Pinktail hid in the hole ..see photo above. I didn't realize they did that too. I mostly see Humu hiding in holes that way. I guess it's a trigger fish thing

In the upper right corner, a very small Rock Mover wrasse juvenile!

It's on the left in this one

Two urchins, fully laden down with shells and rocks.
Gosh, such a great swim. I am truly thankful for nice water and lots of octopuses!

I was hopeful!

I was so hopeful to see an octopus! I was denied, but thought I spotted one...

From afar off, it looked brown like an octopus.  No joy...a sea cucumber.  These are what some people eat...I would have to be plenty hungry to do so.
But there were plentiful seals:

 Snoozing on the beach....

Snoozing on the island

Swimming! EEK! The lifeguard had said there was a seal in the water, but didn't say where. I understand why they don't (as people not in the know will swim over to look....I'm told they can bite!), but it made it hard to guess, from sea level, where it might be.  I did perform a few circle sweeps, kicking around in a circle to see if it was near me.  But then forgot about it, until I looked up and there it was! I snapped a few photos and swam the other way. That's why you'll never see a true close-up in my blog....i like to leave them alone for the most part.
I did see some of the usual suspects and they are still very pretty:

The male Trunk Fish for example. I love light when it hits part of the subject of the photo.....
There were several Juvenile Rock Mover wrasses

Love the clown face!











A rainbow at sea:

I had to choose: photograph the rainbow or the surfers.  Guess which one won?









Pencil Urchin:

 Maybe this is the day of twins..

I love them for their bright coloration, which disappears, by the way, once you take them out of water....you'll see them on the bottom, pale beige, rolling with the waves.

A blenny...this one stayed still for the camera, perhaps because i was behind it. But it eventually did dart under a rock. They sometimes peek out from holes and then withdraw quickly back into them when they are frightened..
A nice Peacock Flounder did swim into my filming area:

They are pale, but it helps when they move...easier to spot.

Plenty of Snowflake Moray eels.  These poor guys probably get really frightened when people walk around.  If the people only knew...

This Abudefduf was guarding the area between the big pond and the kiddie pond...these are the rocks I sometimes swim over to traverse from one to the other..

 Lizard Fish waiting for prey and hoping no one steps on it...

If you were an inch long, wouldn't the big bad ocean scare you?!
Hawaiian Green Lion Fish:

You can see the sand in the water which impacts the visibility, but still caught some of their lovely colors. Don't touch 'em, though: like their cousins the Scorpion Fish, they pack a poisonous punch on those spines..Unfortunately for my camera, they like to hide and hang upside down on rocks. Makes getting a full photo tough...

 A pretty pair of Moorish Idols

A juvenile Yellow Tail Coris...there is practically nothing similar except shape in this fish and the adult...which has a yellow tail, and blue and green on its body. Oh and spots! Crazy how different the baby is from the adult.

 Snakeshead Cowry

 Christmas Wrasse

 And Christmas Wrasse lurking near a Snowflake Moray eel and Convict Tang. 

Goat fish.  Bottom feeders.....I don't eat them.  But then, when you think about it, I guess everything in the ocean ends up on the bottom...good and bad..

Basket Shell

 I think an Auger shell but I could easily be wrong...I did look it up, but still not sure.

 This crab was occupying the Bubble Shell, darn it!

Hebrew Cone shell, partially buried.

Well, it was a nice dive.  I would prefer to see my #1 all time fave, the octopus, but perhaps tomorrow will hold that treat in store. Thanks for reading! Tell your friends....