Hug your loved ones!

We had a bit of a medical scare today, so please hug your loved ones!
And because it's later in the day, i'll just post some pics...4 octopus and a scorpion fish.

 God's rays were orange today!

 one of the 4 octopuses

 Snowflake moray

 Pretty shell. I think of them as basket shells, but not sure that's their real name.

 Shrimp.

 Nice small scorpion fish. Well, depending on your definition of nice..

 God's rays and 2 seals in the water.

This guy showed up at my right elbow! So I snapped a quick one and got outa there.

I thought the crab claw was a nice touch above the den of the octopus.

 This one shows the aqua siphon

 Good hiding. The only thing that caught my attention was the rocks outside the den.

Male trunk fish. Feel better sweetie!

2 seals tete a tete

Of course, don't know what they were saying, but they were definitely frolicking in the water! Also don't know if they were male/female or male/male. But in any case, they were rolling and diving and occasionally snorting. I waited to get in the water, as they were at first in the deep part; then they easily rolled into the Kiddie pond. And eventually, rested up on the island:

I can easily picture them communicating with each other. The other part is how fluid they are in the water and how big a contrast it is when they are on land! They are definitely athletes. They just move and hump along when on the sand. In the water, they are like bullets.

I was able to spot one octopus...yay!

You can see a bit of the siphon, but also its eye...

The siphon again..and the bumpy brown and tan stuff around it is the octopus body. I'm still amazed how they can not only make their skin change color, but change texture: bumpy to smooth in an instant. This was a young octopus. It didn't seem too worried that I was there. 

I also was treated to a surprise flounder. (Well, I guess they are always a surprise, really.)

It seemed strange that it kept going to the top of the rocks, but then I realized that there wasn't any sand on the bottom nearby, so its preferred place for blending in wasn't available.

This one shows the eyes and the mouth. 
Forgive me if I've mentioned this before, but they are born (hatched?) with one eye on each side of their heads and one eye migrates to the other side. So amazing!

Look at youtube under octogirl7 to see the flounder video.

I took the movie, knowing that my usual experience is that animals only move when I'm NOT ready to videotape them. So this flounder sat still for a minute, then took off. I think I was annoying it with my filming.....

I also saw a small spotted Eagle Ray:

It apparently saw me right away, or was flying through anyway, as it didn't stop to find out what I was, but just flew through. They are quite pretty: nice white spots on their backs. Unfortunately, this was taken out where the waves break, so the visibility was not great, and filled with bubbles...

 You can see the eel's teeth and eyes in this one. They do a great job of looking menacing, don't they?

This is the juvenile Yellow Tail Coris, in the in-between stage. See the younger one below, with all the red and white coloration still going on...

Sometimes trash is something odd: in this case, a marble. I also found a penny and a ring. Not a great ring, so it's in the trash.

This seal was about to cross over to the shallower side..

 And a shrimp was pushing the purplish thing out of its way. I don't usually get to see their claws this well. They make circular tubes to hide in.

A nice swim. I'm waiting for winter, when the water should calm down some. But a nice snorkel anyway. After all, there was an octopus!

Dueling Rockmovers

Yesterday, an event called Lights on Rice took place.  I left my swimming hole with what I thought was plenty of time...NOT!

Unfortunately, there was an accident on the way home, so what is normally a 20 minute ride turned into an hour. Part of the problem was, as Alex would call it, the "lookie-loos"...people who have to rubberneck to see what happened.  As I crawled by, I must admit I did glance quickly over: one car on its side and one mashed beyond belief! But after that, the traffic did speed up, so I got home in time to grab a quick bite and then go caroling with my church.

But no time to write about my swim.  So here you go, a day late and a dollar short.

At least there was an octopus!

Should I call it Eagle Eye Challenge?

Because it is the weekend (!!!!!!), part of our power went out during the night.  So I'm typing this on the laptop (and yes, I am thankful we have at least SOME power!  We just bought big frozen chicken and Mahi Mahi (one of the many benefits of living on Kauai and in Hawaii.), so I'm glad we didn't have to have a bbq and invite people. Those of you who know me might be surprised that I'm not a big party person.  All that said to say this: there will be no cropping on this post or the next one... sorry.  Bu the octopus is in the center of the shot, peeking up at me.  Wishing I would go away. If they only knew how much I admire them, they wouldn't be afraid of me.  But until I figure out how to communicate, we must live with each other, just guessing what each other has on its mind.

I am always grateful and thankful and Mahalo-ish about finding an octopus.  Especially since I didn't today...

But I did find two beyond-juvenile Rock Mover Wrasses, hanging out with each other, and kinda looking like they were going to get feisty.

They are almost the same color as the bottom, so hope you can see both of them. They have a white band on their tails.  They are quite flexible, as they often grab a rock in their mouths and throw it around. (Hence the name..)  I haven't seen any other Wrasses do this.  They all are quick, however, so you gotta grab the shot while you can.

Male box fish: 

Bluefin Trevally:

 I don't see nearly as many of these fish over here, so I do enjoy them when I do...and I look, if they are circling, to see what they are hunting.  It is usually an eel.  Guess I should be happy they aren't chasing an octopus, even though that would help me find more.  I don't want the fish harassing them or eating them.

Still haven't figured out what this is:

I'm still guessing some kind of waste, but am having a hard time picturing what animal could make it.

Flea bite cone:

 

Snowflake eels trying to get away:

And I call this one Everyone needs a hairband...even an urchin!

I was going to pick it up, as trash, but who am I to argue about someone else's fashion sense?!

After all, they are called Collector Urchins.

And a shrimp doing something in its tunnel...the orange color drew my attention.  I guess that's one good thing about the bottom being sand colored: some things really draw your eye.

This photo definitely would have benefited from being cropped.  Look in the center for the claws...or are they arms?

Sorry, another Eagle Eye Challenge...just to the left of center.  It's about 2 inches long, including the tail. SO CUTE!  And yet so feisty!  For a tiny fish, this guy was prepared to defend his territory...or zoom into the hole near him.

So any snorkel with an octopus is a good snorkel.  Stay tuned for today's report. And please drive safely!