A nice end to the weekend

I always want to swim longer on Sunday, as it's usually the final day I get to swim before starting the work week. But there were too many people in the pond! I started later because of church. So after only 2 hours in the water, I got out. But I did see lots of cool stuff: octopuses, seals, rock movers and a starfish!

 The moon.

 Palm trees and clouds....i think it's very majestic. and so huge!

Oh yeah, they were snoozing. already the ropes to protect them were up, so they snoozed in peace.

 This is the starfish! I think it's a Fisher's star fish, but they are very similar in my i.d. book, so don't quote me. And I only saw this one because someone else was taking a photo and I swam over to see what they had. And voila!

 A fully out octopus. I have my suspicions: see how its arm is going under the rock? They is one of the ways they mate...I didn't see a 2nd octopus, but there may have been one hidden underneath. Also, this one didn't change color or draw away when I swam down, so I think it had other things on its mind..if you know what I mean.

Below, another octopus. This one was already dark brown when I found it. 

 And then it swam away.

Because the two rock mover wrasses were bothering it. See it here, on the coral?

 Same octopus and fish, just pestering the poor octopus.

Finally, it came to rest. And that's when I remembered there was a spear fisherman in the water, so I swam away, so as to not draw attention to the octopus. 

 This Brighteye Damsel was quick, but I still caught a photo.

I'm not sure why these two Rock Mover Wrasses were feisty, but they were going mouth-to-mouth.

 There's a tiny Trunk Fish in the left/center of this photo. So cute.

 Juvenile Rock Mover Wrasse. Same type of fish as above, but with the "antlers" and other weed-like strings.  They do fly about in the water, just as if they were algae, blown around by the current.

Shell with hermit crab inside, I'd bet. I can tell because it moves in a jerky way, not smoothly as it would if inhabited by the original animal.

 Abudefduf. 

Yes, there's an octopus...this one was very well ensconced in its den, out near the wave break. You can see its eye, just above the white patch.

 Well hidden eel. Never did see its face or tail.

Two of my fave fishes: the Ambon puffer and the Christmas Wrasse. Unusual to see them in the same frame.

 More clouds. Gotta love 'em.

So a total of 5 octopuses and many other cool creations. And now, on to work!

Take a look at your pinky finger....

OK, stop reading for a second and take a look at your pinky finger.  See how small the nail is?

This Drupe shell was smaller than my pinky finger nail! Oh, so cute and also tiny. And now that I'm looking more carefully, it might be a small basket shell...

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse with no customers...

Octopus 1. look for the white circle and then the eye. Hiding well, eh?

Octopus 2. Again, look for the white circle, the siphon. And def hiding well.

Lizard fish. I didn't see the little guy when I dove down to pick up some glass and he shot away from my hand like a cannon!

Cone shell, halfway buried. (And probably alive.)

The Juvenile Yellow Tail Coris.  Yeah, currently not yellow.  But tiny! probably half the size of my pinky. And definitely thinner..love those white spots on the red skin..

Moorish Idol

 Cowry shell hiding in a crevice.

The cutest Picasso Trigger Fish. Again, maybe 2 inches long, including the tail.  Very adorable.

And yes, fish can also give stink eye...

Brighteye Damsel wondering what I'm doing....Their eyes ARE really bright!

 This was the day of TINY.  This is a very small Raccoon Butterfly fish.

Regular size female trunk fish.

So today's dive was only an hour and a half.  The 3 hours yesterday pooped me out! But a nice day. And two octopuses.  It's so good! My camera acted up on the dive, but when I got it home, it was behaving again. Thank God! It's my fave! And they don't make 'em anymore...

A friend met me at the beach!

A friend met me at Poipu today and I was able to show her both of the octopuses which had graced me with their presence. Winner!

Here's the little one that mostly hid...peeking at me. So you see just the eyes.

See? I told you that Rock Mover Wrasses are often found in conjunction with octopuses.  This one hardly seems to know the octopus is there, in its hole....

Same octopus, no fish...

Pinktail Durgon...same fish, slightly different colors. I associate the grayish with being younger.  Seems as if they don't get their real black skin until they are older. I could be totally making that up!

There was a group of ringtail surgeon fish and convict tangs.  I have often seen them hang out together in a pack..The Pinktail was just leaving (to the right.)
Quite surprised to spot a Fantail Filefish! I don't know that I've ever seen these in Poipu:

Quite a pretty fish. This photo doesn't do it justice, but you can see the small mouth.  The tail, when fanned out, is a really nice orange color. 







Sometimes when I pop up, I get palms and clouds:

It was quite cloudy today, but I'm not complaining! Just glad Fernanda didn't land on us! Thank you, God!
Peacock Grouper just darting under a rock:

 Nice little eel was trying to hide.

Zebra Moray and a blue Chromis:

Here is the eel my pal Tanya found:

The one above swam past me...note the different skin pattern...

A small Scorpion Fish, hiding under a rock. And man! At first I thought it was a rock...

Tail, sort of whitish to the right. It was hard to get real close...and you wouldn't have wanted to either! I find them fascinating, but not pretty.
A shell with the Electric Blue hermit crab hanging...literally.

I think it's a shrimp...

They dig an incredibly round hole! Boggles my mind..

Brighteye Chromis...awwww, so cute.

Ambon Puffer...the white stuff was in the water...the blue stuff are dots on its skin. 

Horn Shell. And it is still sitting there, I'd think.  I don't pick up ones that seem to be still in use by the animal or a crab...I'm betting on the former, as a crab would have been moving it around.
Since I do work at the National Tropical Botanical Garden here on Kauai (if you visit, the Visitor's Center is across the road from Spouting Horn on the south shore! Don't believe your phone that sends you to Kalaheo), I often like to include local flower pix:

 Above and below, a rose that the neighbors grew:

 A nice rainbow..

Closeup of a pink Plumeria

God's Rays:

 A white flower that def has a name, but I am not knowing...

 As do these pink pretties:

 This is definitely a Breadfruit. Feed the world!

More of God's rays showing through the clouds:

Caught this when hubby and I took our morning stroll.  Totally worth it! Ripping current today, but a good swim.