I saw 2 octopuses right away...my favorite happening. The photo to the left is just one, however. The "2 octopuses in the same shot" is a more rare occurrence!
The first two were both in the deep part. The one below I found only because the Rock Mover Wrasse was circling and rubbing itself against the rock. Still not sure why they do that...maybe to irritate our pal the octopus?
Here's the Rock Mover and the octopus: the latter being on the bottom left, near that coral patch.
This is one of my "regular" octopuses...it moves to one part or the other of a spot that I can find easily, so that's good! Mostly, the rocks look similar enough that I can't remember from one swim to the next...
They wrap their arms around their heads, perhaps for protective purposes.
This was Honu #2. Swam right by me. Snapped a photo and let it pass.
Honu #3. You can see the water wasn't particularly clear.
Look really closely: this is the hugemongous Honu #1! The pointy thing on the right was its foot. This is a really big turtle, I don't see them this large very often.
Two Moorish Idols
See the little fish? It's on the rock with the red gunk on it. I think it was a tiny lizard fish.
And, contrary to my expectations, this Abudefduf was still alive! I had seen it injured on my last swim, so it was good and amazing to see it still around.
Brighteye Chromis and pencil urchin. Both hiding in a cleft in the rock.
Cornet fish....I call it plaid. They are kinda plaid-ish sometimes.
And male trunk or box fish.
Seal snoozing.
So glad for the octopus sightings. And for those of you that pray, please pray that Hurricane Hector misses our island chain altogether! And if you haven't had your mammogram as needed, please do that. I had a small postcard campaign recently to remind folks to get those tests done. That's how they found my breast cancer: early! and very treatable. So I am encouraging folks to get theirs. Tell your friends! And mahalo for that help.
Sometimes, after swimming for 3 hours, I get tired. So when I get home and look at the usually 300- 400 pix, I'm really pooped! That's what happened this week: tired, came home, showered, ate and slept. Without writing the post. Ah, when you're retired, there are only so many hours in the day. LOL.
But there were 2 octopuses. So that's worth noting. I also got a chance to use our LANDLINE to call my cousin in Canada! That was fun. We have a landline because it comes with our Spectrum account. But mostly because we are looking to avoid a hurricane and I remember with the last one, it was handy to have a landline, as all the cell towers go down. One never realizes how often you use something until you don't have it any longer.
Anyway, all that said, here's the scoop with pix:
Yes, the visibility wasn't great. But one can see the siphon and sometimes the eye anyway.
The little guy was to the left in the photo below and below that. A small octopus.
The little guy is in the upper right corner in this one; note the white lines around its eyes.
When we lived on Oahu, I saw more octopuses. Perhaps because no one is allowed to hunt them in Hanauma Bay, it being a preserve. There are no such limits here in Poipu, sad to say. So I'm somewhat reluctant to let others know where the octopus are; one never knows if the person talked to might be a hunter!
These 3 bluefin trevally had been circling that rock...if you look closely, you'll see the brown eel under the rock to the right.
And here's the Box Crab; saw 2! In the photo above, you can see the front claws. If they stay still, it's really hard to see them. Even harder than with the octopus. Box #2 below.
Snakeskin cowry shell. I didn't pick it up, so not sure if it was inhabited.
Clouds and palm trees. Yay.
And ze devil fish. The yellow and orange on the inside of the fins tells you there's venom around..When the fins are closed (when they are stationary), you can hardly see them. Ambush predator.
And a cute little Humu fish. I have been seeing a few. They are so adorable and still just as assertive as their adult counterparts!
So a good swim. The water wasn't very pretty, but it was simply nice to be able to get in. And of course, see my pals the octopuses. If you want to see the scorp video, go to youtube and look for octopigirl7...
Since octopuses are such good hiders, sometimes you can look right at one and not be sure: is it or isn't it?
Octopus #3 I eventually decided was an octopus. It was cute too, because there was a very small but energetic fish that was hanging out in front of the octopus, just inside its den. Is it possible that the octopus has an early warning system, designed to let it know when an intruder is near?
See what I mean? I can see the siphon in the photo, but really couldn't see it in the natural setting. That's how photographs help.
I never tire of finding these guys...octopuses, that is.
It was nice to also see a pair of Pinktail Durgon. Usually, they are quite individual.
I saw another tiny Humu, too. It was afraid, but also quite bold. The hole just down and to the left was, I think, a bit too small for it to dive into.
A pair of Abudefduf, going in the same direction for once.
Blue spined unicorn. These fish are quite prevalent on our reef. And I've also noted what isn't prevalent: bird wrasse. parrot fish. I am curious about why some fish, so prevalent on Oahu, aren't prevalent here. Predation? Human, that is..at Hanauma Bay on Oahu, one isn't supposed to hunt the fish.
This little boring urchin shows the result of their work: apparently, they bore holes in the rocks/coral heads.
A Cone shell.
An eel. Peeking out of its hole.
This Abudefduf had a big chunk taken out of it. I'd be surprised if it's still alive next time I swim. It did swim about as if nothing was wrong.
And a little Raccoon Butterfly Fish. So adorable.
A tiny fish of unknown name. Maybe it's a very small Lizard Fish. A smaller version of the one below. Another smaller one buried itself so well in the sand that I literally couldn't tell it was there.
Male trunk fish.
The coral head where I have sometimes found octopus was empty again today. Perhaps the octopus doesn't want to fight the Hawkfish for territory?
This is the Mystery chromis. I will have to find my definitive photo guide to fishes to see its name.
Pencil Urchin. I think these attract my eye because a lot of the ocean floor is sand colored. This stands out.
As does the pink coral.
Awwww....Cute male seal having a nap.
I think this may be the same urchin from yesterday, with glass attached as a protective measure.
Any day with octopus is a great day. I was sad to not see the same little octopus that I spotted yesterday. But rather than assuming predation, it might just have been out looking for breakfast! In any case, thanks God for your great creations.
