Another great snorkel!

In order to help reduce my carbon footprint, I am driving less. That means, to go to our "major" town, Lihue, I have to have at least 3 reasons to go.

So this week, that meant doctor's appointment, grocery shopping/Costco visit and of course, the most fun: snorkeling!

I was able to see 2 octopuses, 3 moray eels, 1 flounder and 1 Honu (turtle) swimming right past me! There were also 2 Monk Seals on the beach, including one little one. What a treat. I mention them all here, as some of the pix were not ideal.

You can just barely see the octopus: look for the white rock. Then look down to the brown line. That is the octopus, hiding under a rocky overhang! I had to laugh in my mask, too: when it saw me, it was about the ocean floor. Then it quickly hunkered down so it wouldn't be as visible. Had I been just that one second quicker, you would have been able to see the octopus' head.

I probably shouldn't give away my clues, but look for a little hole under a rock, with rocks gathered around the outside. The octopuses move the rocks in order to disguise where they are hiding.

You can see a bit of octo-body, below the white rock. But still hiding. I kept thinking if I moved a bit away and behind the hidey-hole, that it would think I was gone and re-emerge. But it didn't. Smart little guys.

The first moray eel

Brightly colored wrasse.

Another octopus hiding, but not easy to see.

Pink coral. (You probably already know this, but when snorkeling it's a bad idea to pick coral. It is hard to keep the reef protected.)

Eel #2

Beige coral

Snowflake moray

Finally, a decent shot of the Raccoon Butterfly fish.

A cute little Trunk fish.

Here's another Trunk Fish...the males are blue with orange dots. This is the female.

Another snowflake moray eel. 

Trevally (blue, on the right)

Threadfin Butterfly

Orange shoulder Tang

More pink coral

A Honu swam by, apparently not bothered by me.

The cutest Blenny, hiding in a hole in the rock.

Green coral

Another octopus hiding.

Flounder. Look closely, it is almost the same color as the bottom. It is in the middle of the photo.

It moved to the top of a rock. Look for the jutting round eyes at the top of the shot.

This is a somewhat better photo: the 2 eyes again near the top of the shot, but lite brown. (There's a short video on youtube...look for octopigirl7)

Saddle wrasse

Trunk fish again

The body of the Snowflake. (It was still alive, of course, just bendy.)

4 spot butterfly. The other 2 spots are on the other side. ha

Cornet fish. About 3 feet long, at a guess.

I like to watch the trevally, because if they are circling, there's something that is hiding from them.

Could have been an octopus in that hole, but didn't ever see one.

I always find these plastic things, but never have deduced what they are for. Always very glad to get in the water. Thanks, God! And the doctor appointment went well, too: 5 years cancer free!

surprisingly nice water and 2 he'e in each pond

Another nice day in the water. The seal was already on the beach, 

having a nice nap. It had already been roped off, so no one was pestering it.

and apparently, it had an itchy nose. But then went right back to sleep. 
Which was good because it didn't have any time to eat my octopuses!

 All the octopuses hid, of course. I saw some of the body and color changes.

In this one, you can see its eye and the siphon (white tube)

 And then it blew water through its siphon so I'd go away. So I did. Hey, I do try to be accommodating.

This little one is the same one I saw yesterday. I'm thankful to have "regulars" again.

 And I showed this one to a man and his son. I think they enjoyed the viewing. I don't normally show others because one never knows who might be an octo-hunter. But also, some folks feel the need to try to touch the octopus. I try never to do that.  It's like sitting at home in your living room and having a huge hand come down to grab you!

And octopus #3 was a peeker...I swam away and looked back to see if it would pop up to see if I was truly gone. ha. Curiosity can be dangerous.

I'm not sure I should show this, but the outside of the octo-den often looks like this:

 They move rocks around. And note the shell near the head of the one below. I don't know if it had eaten this shell, but I do know I wasn't going to bop down and try to find out. I didn't want to upset the little octopus. Who knows? S/he could decide to move....then were would my sightings be?

Of course, there were other cool animals:

 A nice pair of Teardrop Butterfly fish.

 A snakeshead cowry, hiding in a gap in the rock.

 This humu made me laugh! It darted about, obviously not liking my immense size and tried to dart into a whole that wasn't big enough for it. That didn't work out...

 The yellow tail flip of the Yellow Tail Coris.

 And one of my person faves: the Brighteye Chromis.

Christmas wrasse and a snowflake eel. How appropriate!

 This urchin picked up many things to hold on itself, including a big piece of glass.  I can't think of anything more protective! Well, except maybe metal...

A group of goat fish.

 Hawkfish.

I saw the horn shell below first, then a moment later, saw the one hiding, to the left.

 This Lizard Fish obliged me by lying on a rock, so it was easier to photograph. When they dig into the sand, they really disappear.

 Pencil urchin, hiding again.

 If you look closely, you'll see two things: one, the hole through which the original shell was probably killed, maybe by an octopus and two, the hermit crab's green legs that showed who was moving the shell around.

 Urchin. They have lots of barbs. Don't walk on the bottom. This shows the anal sac, too.

I see these all the time; they move around in the current. Occasionally, in the corner of my eye, I think they might be octopus, since I see the dark color. 

All told, a great swim! And my pal was lounging on the beach too, so two people got some fun out of this trip to Poipu.