Close to 300

No, not octopuses! Close to 300 posts on the kauaianew blog. Surprising. There may be celebrating when I get to 300. We'll see.

Today there were 3 octopuses and one scorpion fish. I don't think the video is good enough to upload of the scorpion fish, but we'll see. It does show its orange and yellow colors, so...

This octopus was #2 and sitting on top of a coral head. I was glad for the Blue-spined Unicorn fish, as you can get a bit of an idea of the octopus'  size.

 This is octopus #1 being harassed by a rock mover wrasse. It is on the bottom between the fish and the coral rock with two holes...

 Same octopus, but the angry color. It was getting really tired of the rock mover wrasse. I am still mystified why the fish likes to rub against the octopus and the rocks. 

 Octopus 2: I had glanced that way a few minutes before and saw a dark blob, but didn't catch on right away to what it was. 

 This was octopus #3, in a regular den. It has learned, sadly, to retract quickly, so it's hard to see it most of the time. 

The seals were snoozing peacefully when I got there. I still think sand adhered to your skin would be itchy, but perhaps that's just me!

 Barred Filefish

 Stocky Hawk Fish didn't appreciate my visit and swam off the cliff soon after I caught this photo.

Nice snorkel. I was very happy for all of the octo-sightings and the Scorp was another nice find.

I will upload the video, so you can see the orange and yellow. It is amazing how they almost disappear when the bright colors are hidden. Go to octopigirl7 on youtube to see the video in a few minutes. And thanks for reading!

Two octopuses again!

Yeeha! Love to spot octopuses. Or as Alex calls them, octo-feesh! I found what I think was a new octopus very quickly after I entered the water (Beware! rip current in the deep end!) 

Unfortunately, octopuses are smart..it saw me and withdrew into its den. You can see a line of brown at the back of the hole. That's the octopus.

Convict tangs and ringtail surgeon fish. Apparently, they get along.

 Hawkfish atop its coral parts. Below, as a surprise, is a damsel fish that I've been trying to identify. But it's so quick that I have a hard time seeing it well enough to know its type..IN this photo, you can see its nose poking out.

I call this Unicorn Moustache! Two Blue Spined Unicorns, the bottom one getting cleaned near the mouth. Doesn't the Cleaner Wrasse look like a moustache?!

Octopus #2. I couldn't believe it when I saw it...Just sitting in a hole in the rock. When I first saw it, I thought it was just a brown blob. But this shows its ability to make its skin bumpy. Perhaps to disguise what it is...the winner of all fish, the Octofish!

And what I at first thought was just a bit of sea fluff turned out to be one of those cool white and orange lined shrimp. Don't faint, but I got out my book and its real name is Banded Coral Shrimp. 

The Threadfin Butterfly fish. It has a very cool long thread at the end which gives it its name. But I have noticed lately that they also have an interesting nose: I wonder if it can expand its nose..see how its two pieces?

 And my pal, the Brighteye Chromis, above. Below, a Drupe covered in gunk. Unless it's a Cranberry Drupe. Ah, what I don't know would fill many books..

 A small fish of unknown name. But it is quick and pretty much the same color as the sand!

Pencil urchin mashed between two rocks. Not sure how that works as a survival strategy, but pretty nonetheless.

 Palms and clouds...what could be better? (Well, octopus, but you know that.)

Breadfruit from our local Community Garden. I think they are not only pretty, but strikingly so.

Back underwater, the Trunk Fish. It's neat how the coloration on the tail and fins ends below the actual end of the tail and fin. There's probably a good reason for that, but I don't know what it is.

 OK, now, do you see the animal below? You might be able to click on the picture to enlarge it. (Eagle eye challenge)

 This might help....look for two round eyes. 

Good disguise, eh? This one flew away from me, vibrated itself under the sand, with just its eyes and part of the head still above the sand. Quite good camou, don't you agree? And of course, I wasn't quick enough to grab that video op.

This little (maybe 2 inches long) Raccoon butterfly fish was darting around, trying to eat and hide at the same time. Not easy.

 Another flounder! This was 2 of 3 that I saw.

Flounder eyes. Starting out one eye on each side of the head, the eye migrates so both are on one side. I guess it wouldn't make any sense to have one underneath, where there wouldn't be much to look at!

Pretty much sand colored. That's why I have sometimes missed seeing them, until I'm right upon them!

Below, the Christmas Wrasse. But don't stop there! Above and to its right, a Scorpion Fish that I didn't see at first.  Look for the orange and then in following pictures. (See also youtube video...look for octopigirl7 and see the fish moving along the bottom. Trying to get away from photog girl.)

 Another great disguise! I often don't see them until they move, with that blast of orange color. It's saying: Stay Away! I'm poisonous!

This poor fellow didn't like me watching and following him.

 Mouth agape. And a face only a mother could love!

The Christmas Wrasse blasted past while I was filming the Scorp.

 Showing a bit of orange. 

 And a bit more. Usually I only see the orange when they move.

This tiny Humu was darting about. It was probably maybe possibly 2 inches long, including the tail! Awesomely adorable. And yet feisty even when so small.

Stacked rocks. I thought there was a Hawaiian name for this, but when I googled it, found that this can be a bad thing, as supposedly it disturbs/moves the rocks that are telling a geological story, especially at the Volcanoes park. Hmmmmm...

And neat clouds and palm trees ended this day, as I walked with my friend, who is newly returned from a visit to the mainland. We hope she'll stay here, but the jury is out: she has family on the mainland and misses them. Stay tuned...

Short swim - 3 octopuses and 3 seals!

Well, I got lazy yesterday and didn't write, so today I'll cram 2 days of swimming into one post.  Both days had 3 octopuses.  They may have been the same 3 on both days, but hard to tell.

You can just see its little sucker on the left, adhering to the rock. Good hiding octopus.
Here's octopus #2...look closely:

Now, don't be distracted by the fish. Those Orange Shoulder Surgeon fish didn't even know the octopus was there, I'll bet! The octopus is the brown blob in the middle of the picture...it was hiding in a hole in that rock. And deeper pond, too, so I couldn't get very close.



Shortly after that, I saw something glinting about 15 feet down.  After several dives, I had to give up getting it.  By the time I could get my finger under it, I had pushed it under a rock.  Looked like sparkly heart, maybe a pendant...oh well.  Can't rescue them all!
The octopus #3 did some peeking at me yesterday. 

Love how they peek at me!

This was definitely an adult.  Biggish. And curious.  That's not necessarily a good thing..if I were an octopus hunter, that would be all it took to get caught. Perish the thought.

The eye is the brown rounded part, with the small slit in it.  

So today's swim wasn't as long as yesterday's four hours...I blame the seal.

I heard the lifeguard beep that tells you they're going to say something.  So I stopped and popped up. One of the seals that had been sleeping on the beach had awakened and gone swimming. At first toward the small pond, then I decided to get out until it had settled.

It was cute...the seal that had been sleeping on the island looked up at the interloper.  But I guess they were ok with being near each other, as they didn't fight, but went back to sleep.

Here's a weird crab, I think a Common Box Crab:

If it hadn't moved, I would have thought it was just part of the sand, probably...

And the last thing from today's 128 photos (2 hours) is the hook I took a photo of once I got it home. Not only was it a horrible, 3 pronged affair, but it had become rusty.  Yuck:

It could have done some real damage, especially if someone walked on it.  But now it's safely in our trash receptacle.  No passing this one along to another fisherman!

So back to yesterday: a nudibranch.  I think it's a Spanish Dancer, as far as I can guess:

Aren't they odd?  The head is at the top of the photo.  The "naked lungs" at the bottom.  They wave in the water.  

And since it's been a while, palm trees for my sweetheart:

It had been raining where we live, but by the time I got down south, it was just a cloudy thought of rain, not the real deal.

Pretty, though, right?  The yellow at the right is one of the lifeguard dive pads. They don't patrol this half of the beach (state versus county, I'm told), but I thought the light and clouds were pretty.  This lifeguard pad is where I stand to pray before entering the water.

First things first!

There were several little tiny box fishes.  So cute:

Maybe 3 inches, including the tail.  These little ones are much more skittish than the larger versions.  Both types are pretty standoffish.  Well, swim off-ish!

I think this is a blenny. 

Cute, eh?

I couldn't believe it sat there and let me take its photo, several times...normally, they run back inside to hide.  Maybe I was Ninja Octo-Woman yesterday...It could happen. 

Plenty of shells:

I know it's a cone shell, but not sure what kind....No, No! Don't make me look in the book again!!

Now, I KNOW this one is called a money cowry.  Because that's how it was used. 

Just can't get enough photos of the octopus eyes...this one at least has 2 almost...This was a photo I caught from above the octopus.

I don't know the name of this Cowry Shell, but in my note, I called it the Sweet Cowry...so pretty! Nice designs on the outside, and pretty colors at one end. And no, I didn't collect it.  Seemed in good shape, so I assumed someone was still using it.  Maybe 2 inches long..

This urchin (look for the spines) had a whole bunch of rocks attached to it.  For protection, I can only imagine...

Juliana's Sea Hare:

Isn't that a strange looking animal? Kinda like a nudibranch, without the lungs outside.  The head is at the right.  It just inches along...

And last but not least, a crab claw:

Did I forget to mention that it had been someone's crab dinner? oops. I have never seen a crab this large in the water, so perhaps it moves around at night. With the bright orange coloring, it's hard to imagine that if it were in my neighborhood, I would miss it.  

I guess I just can't leave this octopus alone....This is more of the body than I usually get to see, so happy about it. They are really cool animals. Great swim. And I'm happy that I let the seal have the right of way. After all, they live there..