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!

You know love is more important than a ring, right?

So I had been swimming about two hours and this young lady swam up to me, saying: "Can you help us?!"

Not the way a normal conversation starts in the water.  And it makes me think: "Oh no! what is wrong?!"

So since I was on my good behavior at the time, I asked "How can I help you?"

Turns out that her husband, standing in the water, had lost his wedding ring.

They didn't have "goggles", so she asked if I could look around. Which of course, I did. And in about 2 minutes, I found it. I put my gloved hand up out of the water, with the ring on my finger, over the glove.

He said: "Thank you so much! You are my hero!!!" So I gave him the skinny on how to avoid this happening again (make a fist, then the ring can't come off over the knuckle.) And then I said: "You do know the love is more important than the ring, right?" She agreed, but then added: "It was an expensive ring!"

As I swam away, I thought of many things, major among them was that I should have taken a photo of the ring. Oh well. All's well that ends well. The guy was very smart to stay still, so he knew the general area in which the ring could be found.

So perhaps as a reward, I found 7 octopuses! This is a banner day, and I think might be a record since coming back to Kauai. 

There were also a couple of snoozing seals..the best kind:

I did try to get the people out of the shot, but the seals, since there were 2, were long!

This hawkfish had just flown down and back and was now resting....

 To Raccoon Butterfly fish.  One of the many types of fish that travel in pairs.

Octopus #1. See? They DO build things...You can see the brown in the hole and just a little bit of the white siphon. The octopus piles the rocks up outside the den. Protective maybe, but some of us have figured out that they do this, so we look for the piles of rocks. (Shhhhh....do not tell tako-eaters this clue.)

 Closer up. You can see the brown and white of its head.

 Another octopus in another den.

 This is the one that hides out on the crossover area between the big and little ponds.

Awwww.Abudefduf. I love saying that. They are cool fish too.

 Part of a very nice shell. This one came home with me because it wasn't being used.

This Lizard Fish had just scooted across the sand and re-buried itself.

 Isn't it amazing how they are the almost same color as the sand?!

 Trunk or Box fish. 

 Two young Rock Mover Wrasses....they are so clown-like in their faces!

Perhaps twins.

I think this is a land snail, but I brought it home because it shows the interior architecture. Imagine the animal inching along inside those tunnels.

 A Humu and a littler one!

Mostly, they stay near the hole so they can pop in and hide when they need to.This one was probably 2 inches long...so cute.

 If you look very carefully, you'll see the octopus eye. It's red and horizontal.

One of the 7....woo-hoo! Been a long time since I've seen so many in one swim.

 Shell which had someone living inside.

 Octopus #7 peeking at me from its den. They are too curious for their own good: when they think you're gone, they peek out to make sure. If you're very quiet, you can watch them do a double-take when they see you still there...ha

Another Rock Mover Wrasse youngster, with the juvenile antlers.

 This fully intact shell sadly had someone, probably a crab, living there, so I had to put it back down. drat. But it's good that someone was using it.

 The Moon and a cloud and a palm tree.

And I found small bottles of Prosecco! We never want to drink as much as comes in a big bottle, so this was a boon. 

And the moral from today: don't wear your wedding ring swimming...leave it in the hotel safe. And if you do wear it, close your hand into a fist. And if worst case you do lose it, stay where you are and call in help!

Thanks, God. I was thinking they couldn't have called upon a better finder: I do go slowly so I can see octopuses and I do have an eagle eye on the bottom. And I hope and pray they have a happy, long married life. Like me and my sweetie: almost 20 years!

Happy Marine Corps Birthday!!!

Yes, for those who are not in the know, today is the Marine Corps' 242nd birthday! Started in 1775, on November 10. So when you're thanking the Veterans, thank the Marines too! OOOOOH-RAH!!!

Perhaps in honor of the birthday, I saw 5 octopuses today. (Hey, we don't know that they wouldn't know what day it is...they are very bright!) Two in the deeper part, two in the Kiddie Pond and one in-between. Yes, the one that made its den in the middle of the rocks between the deep and the shallower pond was still there.  And s/he ducked down when I appeared. I think it was quite surprised to see me. I'll bet, especially when the waves are pounding and conflicting with each other in that area, not many people hang out to get their tails whipped, as mine was. Didn't stop me, though. 

You can just see the white of the siphon. And truth to tell, I'm not sure which octopus this was....but I enjoyed them all the same.

 Male Trunk Fish.

 3 young Rock Mover wrasse

 Rain on the water.

 I think the one above and below was from the in-between rocky area...didn't catch a lot of the octopus..but you can see how well dug in it was..

 Surfer and rainbow. You can see the surfer on the left.

 Yellow Cigar Wrasse. Very cool and very quick, sliding around the rocks.

Today's leaf fish.

If you look carefully, you can see the animal oozing out... The white and brown speckled bit...This is a Triton shell, so I can only assume the animal is that color when out of the shell. You can also see the operculum, which in this case is a hard, brownish bit. Has the same purpose (keeping out predators), but in my mind, the white ones I usually spot seem better: they are really hard like a rock and you can snap the lid on quickly.

The shell was empty of its normal occupant, but not empty of crab. Note the hole near the bottom on the photo to the left.  That tells me perhaps an octopus ate the original animal. But I wasn't there and wouldn't want to falsely accuse anyone!

 Eye stalks, antenna, and several legs...in the one below, you can see the feeder legs below the eye stalks which my Marine tells me will help funnel food into its mouth.

Another octopus.

Nice Cone shell. Buried in the sand. It's tempting to pick them up, as they are an easy "catch", but don't! They have poisonous venom.

Below is the rainbow I was hoping for. I got the addition of the Mom and the kid on the surfboard. With the waves the way they were, I wouldn't have done that! But then, I don't have kids and I don't surf and I'm just generally cautious about the water. Well, other than the fact that I swim alone usually. It's my favorite way, because I don't have to watch out for anyone in my path.

 Storm out at sea.

 Same area, about 10 minutes later. You could hardly tell it had been raining.

Very nice start to the long weekend. Thanks, God! And thanks also for the safety. And the nice walk after the swim with my Poipu pal. And tonight, Kauai Beer Company to celebrate the Marine Birthday.