Octopus strike announced on Kauai

Yup, another swim without octopus sighting! And I'm sighing. Friends offered ideas for this lack, such as the large number of seals in the area. Sadly, I like seals, but they do have this bad habit of eating octopuses! In another vein, I have seen my past year calendars and June does seem to be a slow month. So perhaps things will pick up in July! Here's hoping (and praying..)

Today I did have some good sightings: a black Leaf Fish, a yellow Leaf Fish, a Hairy Triton shell with the operculum still intact and a Peacock Flounder! woohoo!

Not the prettiest creature ever, but I do find them fascinating. (I also uploaded a short video of this fish being bashed around by the waves...look for octopigirl7 on youtube..)

The Turban shell with its operculum still working....the operculum can snap open and shut to protect the animal inside the shell.

 I hardly ever see 4 yellow tail coris in one frame...but here they are! The one at the bottom is apparently somewhat older, as it has begun to have the adult coloration (see the adult below.)

Yellow Leaf Fish, hiding in a cleft in the rocks.

 A ballet of Moorish Idols. They are so graceful when swimming...

 No swim would be complete without the Brighteye Chromis.  So cute.

 I have been forgetting to memorialize the Christmas Wrasse. They are always around but also always fast.

A Cone shell hiding in the rocks.

What I think is a Crown of Thorns starfish. These are not popular on the reef, as they terrorize and eat practically everything.

Spotfin Scorpion Fish hiding under a rock.

See the flounder?! I didn't at first.

 You can see the circles on its skin a little better in this photo.

And in the photo to the right, the fish had scooched down in the sand, throwing some on its back for better camouflage! I think it succeeded, don't you?

A nice Hairy Triton with the operculum (in this case, a dark colored one) still protecting it. See part of the animal in the channel to the left.

 Two Honu today. And 3 seals!

 A Humu. Nice fish....quite regularly seen on the reef, so sometimes I forget about them. 

 Damsels with needlefish, near the rocks dividing the shallow side from the deep.

 Morning clouds and palms for Alex.

This is the 2nd time I saw this puffer. Standoffish, but that's ok: I have seen their jaws and you don't want to mess with that mouth!

 Another shell that was pretty. See the other one to the left, more buried in the sand.

 Shrimp-ness! Two orange claws in a hole. I often wondered who makes such a nice round hole in the bottom...now we know.

 Snowflake Moray Eel.

 Spiny urchin.

 The back of the Spotfin Scorpion fish.

I didn't get a very good picture of this fish...but really was curious what it was! 

 This urchin used remains of another urchin for protection.

 Cute little urchin on top of a rock. It's tough for me to get a good angle on them, as they're on top of a rock.

Whiskers, sleeping on the beach....

Drama, day two: no octopus again

I wonder if some folks won't even read my blog if I say there were no octopuses! However, there was a Slipper Lobster!

 I didn't choose the color pattern, but perhaps I'm accustomed to finding things when they are the same color as the bottom! The Slipper Lobster is the thing between all the rocks...does that help you locate it?

Here's another shot, which I think kinda looks like a lady with a tiara...two eyes and a mouth. Perhaps not....In any case, I don't know if I have ever seen one of these in the wild before. It scuttled out from under a rock, so that's probably the only reason I spotted it. It didn't move at all after coming out, so it probably didn't want to become dinner. (And no, I wouldn't catch one. I'm strange about not killing stuff; but I will eat fish..)

 There were a total of 3 seals today, but one slept on another part of the beach. When I mentioned to the lady below that she was too close to the seal, she said: "Oh!!! I didn't even see it there!" I thought to warn her not to go into the water, as there are LOTS of things she should notice while in. But I'm still fighting to be good. And nice. And kind. God tells me to be at least kind and it's still a struggle.

The main problem was that I got a late start today, so there were more people in the water than I like. But I do go to a very popular beach, so it's really my fault! But if I get in earlier, most of the visitors are still sleeping....

 I would LOVE to say this was a well hiding octopus, but I'm still uncertain. I didn't see any siphon (usually the way I am positive what it is) nor any tentacles. So I'm not counting it. My apologies, he'e, if that was you!

Urchin. This one has slender spines that I'd guess hold the poison. Do not step on these, please.

 A Lizard Fish for Alex's collection. He keeps it all over the world. ha.

Brighteye Chromis. Hiding.

 Above and below, a yellow tail Coris juvenile in the changeover stage. The younger are just red and white. This one has started the adult coloration.

 Male Trunk Fish.

Peacock Grouper, showing its lovely blue fins. Apparently, these fish eat too much on the reef, so they are not popular.

 Part of a shell. Hermit Crabs have been known to take broken shells and use them for their homes.

 A Stripey. These hang out in the shallow side, near where the people congregate. Doesn't seem like a good survival strategy, but perhaps they have prey there of which I'm not aware..

The lead featured below was on the fishing line in the next photo and was wrapped in about a foot of black stretchy tape. I can only imagine what it would have morphed into if left in the ocean!

 This fishing line, which I wound up about a week ago, turned out to be over 30 feet of mono-filament line! Imagine getting that caught around you....or a fish...or an eel. Sad. But it is now at home in a trash can, so it won't be bothering anyone again. I'm just glad I was able to reel it in and take it out of the water. Took me about 10 minutes. Time well spent.

Here's hoping for an octo-sighting next time!

A nice swim, even without an octopus.

Well, yes of course I was bummed with the lack of cephalopods, but what can ya do?
I did see this guy:

 It's a Bat Ray. And yes, it surprised me! I do think it was more afraid of me than I was of it, although it might be close...and it's so hard to get them to express their feelings. HA. Mostly, when it saw me, it veered away. I think I was just unknown...

 Two juvenile Yellow Tail Coris...Didn't they make a great right angle in the photo above? And below, the adult coloration is showing on an older one...to the right of the frame.

A trio of Moorish Idols. They are so graceful with the long flowy fins on top.

This is the biggest blenny I've seen...Of course, their biggest is less than 7 inches long...maybe 5?

Now, we are talking! This big cornet fish was probably 3 feet long:

 Box fish butt.

And la creme de la creme: the Bubble shell with the animal showing! 

 The shell itself is the black and white part...the gelatinous white polka-dotted part is the animal. What an amazing creation!!!

 Above, a nice Cone shell too.

 There were two of these crabs (couldn't i.d. them immediately on the internet), but in the one above, you can see the bulbous eyes. And below, more of the legs. Not sure what they were doing, as they were apparently hiding about a foot from each other. Well, I guess they were hiding. ha.

 Did they have a spat? The male Trunk/box fish is apparently fleeing the female on the right. Or vice versa. I'll have to look up their mating rituals...

 Different blues...the bluefin trevally and the male Trunk Fish. Going the same way at different speeds.

The object below turned out to be a lead weight with tape or something around it, which was attached to several feet of fishing line....grrrrrr. Took me about 15 minutes to untangle the line and get it off the reef. Thanks to my sweetheart, I had my underwater scissors with me, so I was able to cut it and get most of the line that I could see out of the water.

 Pencil urchins.

 I like the busy-ness of the photo with the Pinktail below...bluefins, pinktail, and damsel..

 Bad Bad Rock Mover! You did not lead me to any octopuses today!

I am guessing, but this looks like it was once lava, as the shell on the middle left appears stuck in the rock. But I could be totally wrong, also. 

So, a nice swim. To tell the truth (I try not to lie to God), I was disappointed not to see an octopus. Perhaps next time. 

A very quick swim

Well, since I forgot both my dive gloves AND my watch, not sure exactly how long the swim was today. But, I do know that I saw an octopus! 

There was threatened guardrail construction on the one road between the sea and my home. I didn't want to again get stuck in it, so I got in the water, saw that octopus and got out! It worked too, as the lady who is our new landlady called regarding our move-in....I would have missed that important call, had I been swimming. It's all good!

This octopus is I think the same one I saw last week...near a sponge which hangs out below a coral head. Good locator, eh?

I also saw a Pinktail Durgon and a surprise background fish: the Peacock Grouper. I was so focused on the Durgon that I didn't even notice the grouper until I got home. Such are the vagaries of swimming and taking underwater pictures. Short but sweet.

I thanked God for the octopus sighting and also for the lack of construction traffic. Now, off to pack...