Be Kind

Today, I spotted a swimmer using his go-pro stick to poke into an octo-den! The nerve. Did he not understand the Marine Preserve part of Hanauma Bay?

So I took his picture, followed him out and accosted him on the beach. Letting him know that poking the animals is not cool! I was sorry I didn't video him doing it; if I had, I would have reported him. He thanked me for the info and then told me that someone stole his stuff off the beach. Karma is a .....!

On to the good part of the dive: 7 octopuses! And a Scribbled Filefish. Barred Filefish. Nice water, too.

 You can see its eye and siphon. Good hiding spot, eh?

This is what I first saw: 

#2 hiding in its den

 It came out just a little bit when I swam away a bit.

But it never came out very far.










Neither did #3. You can see the white of its siphon at the upper right.

This one, #4, I found because the Trevally was circling. Poor octopus...

And then a Humu joined the team.

Humu 5 showing its dark brown

 and then its normal color.

 It was a small one.

A pretty good hiding place. You can see #6's eye and siphon. It did blow sand at me.

You can see how someone not going slowly could miss seeing this one.

This is #7, the one that the guy tried to poke out of the den. Unsuccessful. Thank God.

 One of the octopuses with the surrounding urchins.

I do love finding the little dears.

And before I forget, the earling morning sky:

 Since it lightened up early, I jumped in early, too. 
The Moon over the hills, through the clouds.

It's supposed to storm later, so I'm glad I got in early.

 What's not to love? 

3 biggish Trevally swam through. 

 An Abudefduf looked at me.

As did the Barred Filefish. Look at those teeth...

 Big Eye Emperor. This was taken early on, before the sun really rose, so it's not a great shot.

 Big parrot fish

 And a small Cornet fish.

Humu from different angles

And another operculum that is still right there where I found it. 

 Ornate Butterfly Fish

Palani

Octopus peeking at me.

 They always sink down under cover when you get closer.

Porcupine Puffer. Look at those spines!

Scribbled Filefish 

 Tiny Sergeant Major

 Tear Drop Butterfly

Trevally

A very nice swim, though a bit marred by the jerk. I hope he learned something! And props to God for creating all these very pretty creatures.

Be Happy: I took 754 pix, but not posting them all.

You may wonder why in the heck I took that many pictures today. I would wonder too, but I know why: 6 octopuses, a barracuda and a flounder.

God is good!

There is even a flounder and an octopus video. (octopigirl7 on youtube)

It was a great day. And if you're wondering why I swam on Monday, not that you care about my schedule, I have a dr. appt on Wednesday, so I wouldn't be able to get to the beach in time. So I decided to go today. So glad I did.

There are way too many photos of octopus #6, so please bear with me. It makes up for some of the other he'e that hid. 

This octopus first appeared flying away from me. I was so surprised that I didn't catch it in video format. But here is the octopus, peeking out from behind a rock. 

#2:

All bumpy.

But still looking at me. And I just realized: the following photo has brown stripes going out from its eye, instead of the white in the previous photos. They are so mysterious!

I saw #3 and then it sank down into its den. Why so shy?

#4 was over on the right in shallower water. Not much sun hit it and it didn't get out and dance, so this is the best I have...

#5:
You will enjoy the first one: note the very slender leg on the upper body in the photo. The octopus was cleaning itself by running the leg over its head and body. 

 And I'm not sure the octopus knew this, but its legs were showing below the rock it was hiding inside. So we know it was a small one, because the suckers on its legs are small.

 The prickly part on the right inside was an urchin. How on earth do they not get poked?!

Another view.

Once you get started, it's hard to stop.
You have to take a lot of pix, just in case you get a really cool one. And I did.

 This one below almost looks as if it is standing up. Note the small siphon below and left of the eye....that's another way to know it's a small and therefore young octopus.

  

This was the coolest octopus. It let me keep taking pictures.

#6 inside its den.

 I just barely got a photo of this one. Very skittish and ducked back into the den when it saw me.

And now some pix from who knows what octopus. I lost track of which was which.

 I love how they can make not only color changes, but bumps on the skin.

Some of these makes me want to print pictures again! Rainbow eye. 

 Sometimes the light hits just right.

 And this was #1 as it sped away. What'd I do?! I actually think we both surprised each other.

4 spot butterfly fish by coral.

Teardrop duo:

 Barracuda lurking and trying to scare everyone.

 They hang in the cloudy water so they are harder to spot.

I only saw it because it moved...and kept moving.

 On 2 occasions, I found an octopus because a trevally was circling. I'm not sure what is more scary to the octopus: the fish or me.

 Nice calm water, so I went outside and spied this Black Durgon. The water wasn't very clear, though. I'm constantly surprised when I try to figure things out.

 Cornet fish

Picasso Humu

 This urchin was so cute. Maybe 2 inches across. And with such a rocky, heavy load!

More Picasso Humu. I do love them.

Raccoon Butterfly by the dozen.

 This eel was trying to escape the trevally.

As was the octopus, seen below.

 This fish swam right by the octopus and I; didn't even see the octopus, I'd bet.

 And for my sweetie, a Peacock Flounder. 

Light hit this Humu to good effect. 

 And another lovely trigger, the Lei Trigger. They are incredibly shy. It was also in the deep part, so I didn't get close.

 Long Nose Butterfly fish. 

The nose allows them to get into coral more easily. 

Needlefish 

Trevally hassling one of the octopuses.

Octopus watching me. Above the red rock. 

 The Humu watch us swim by, too.

Pinktail. 

This white spotted puffer was swimming over a sea cucumber. Ewwww. I could never eat a cucumber in a restaurant again, not that I ever did.

 Puffer and Wana.

Ringtail Surgeons and Sergeant Major of a bigger size.

Ringtail Surgeon paused in the water. I wonder why? I guess if you swim 24/7, you can get tired and need a break. 

 Teardrop Butterfly duo.

Trevally chasing that eel.

 And circling the octopus.

What not to do. Notice how standing on the bottom kicks up the sand and makes the visibility terrible. Don't blame the ocean! 

 Totally having a lengthy conversation. My suggestion? Do it on land!

Don't want to neglect the early morning colors: If you look really carefully at the top, you'll see a tiny white pinprick: Venus.

 Palm tree for Alex:

 And the sun did come up. Thankful! And grateful for another wonderful swim.