One octopus..and it flew!

I was back up in the photos department: 418! And oddly, they were mostly pictures of the one and only octopus that I saw. Fully out, it preened, watched, blew out sand and then flew to other rocky outcroppings.

 This octopus kept this stance, for the most part. Showing its suckers underneath. Kinda like lifting up its petticoat.

You can see inside, to spot its breathing apparatus..

 From above.

 And here's the Bluefin Trevally that started the whole show. I'm glad that my presence eventually made the fish depart. I did it for you, He'e!

All circled up. 

  

 Below, you can see the eyes. I rarely see any octo-art that accurately depicts their eyes.

Below, the he'e from above. The octopus definitely turned around so it could keep me in sight.

 And then it flew off to sit atop a rock. The surrounding fishes were excited!

This is what it looked like as it swam. All curled up and brown.

The Saddle Wrasse and Goat fish def thought the octopus exciting. 

 As it started flying away. I think this one might have been missing a leg.

If you'd like to see some videos, on youtube.com, search for octopigirl7. Et voila!

And I was not bored as I waited for enough light to go in: We had very nice colors as the sun started coming up.

The one below not only had color, but look for the big wave that hit land just below the middle.

  

 It was tough deciding which shots to include. All were so pretty.

 This was the first one. Before much light arrived. Isn't God's universe incredible?

So before all the octo-excitement, here are some of the fish I saw. Oh and a shell too! Lived in by a hermit crab.

 Barred filefish. You can see the water wasn't the most clear ever.

 But it was clear enough to spot the hermit crab inside the shell. Where it lives still, I'd guess.

 An Operculum that I couldn't take home. Drat!

 The Picasso Humu. And showing its spike.

 And a Sergeant Major. I saw others that were tiny.

 This eel was hanging out near the octopus.

 Oops. Another photo of the siphon and the suckers underneath.

One photo after it flew and landed. 

I eventually decided that I had bothered it enough and swam away.

So happy to have seen this octopus and its antics. They are amazing creatures.

3 Octopuses and a flounder

Yay! The octopuses had returned today and I saw 3 of the little dears:

This was #1. I had seen it before and it was very calm: didn't turn dark brown at all, even when I swooped down to take this picture. It was sitting on top of a rock.

 You can see both eyes and the siphon in octopus #2, although it is closed.

Later, it did turn a little brown. Sensitive, eh? 

All nestled in its den. 

And #3:

Yes, it's in there! Sharing with an urchin.
What a relief to see some octopuses today...yesterday's skunking had me nervous....

I thought this cloud was very awesome and busy. 

 And this one had rain out at sea underneath.

 And a bit of rainbow!

Brighteye Chromis paused just long enough for a photo op.

 And the Flounder was the first thing of note that I saw today!

Good camouflage, eh?

They burn themselves in sand to hide..

Young Orange Shoulder surgeon. The adults have no yellow at all.

 And the juvenile Rock Mover. This one darted about even more than they usually do, so I had a heck of a time catching even one good photo.

They do move about just like seaweed in the current.

 Male Trunk or Box fish

Needles

 Nice shell

Octopus #2 with a bit of rainbow on it.

 This tiny Humu definitely didn't want me around, but couldn't stop the nearby rainbow. It was about to dart into a hole.

 Even the Spotfin Scorpion Fish got some rainbow on it.

 As did the urchin

 Closer to the shell..

 Snowflake moray trying to hide.

The Spotfin again.

 And the Bluefin Trevally fishing with a goat fish.

 Wana.

I told a young lady today that she shouldn't step on the bottom because of urchins. This is one of them! Sadly, she had glasses and no mask, so there was little chance she could see underneath the surface.



Great swim. I feel fortunate to live here.