Thursday, May 9, 2019

A famous Singer

For those of you who might not know her music, check out Buffy Sainte-Marie! Some of it's pretty, some is anti-war, and all of it is good! She will be appearing in Toronto on May 25, so grab some tix! (I would if I could, but that flight is l-o-n-g!!!)

Today, 3 octopuses, a lizard fish and a spotfin scorp. The latter, 
I saw just after I was thinking about warning someone not to walk on the bottom with bare feet. Timing is everything. Luckily for the guy who was doing the walking, I often see these venomous fish hiding under or near rocks, so you would almost have to be trying to step on one. But here's hoping you'll swim and not walk, so that won't be an issue!
 Yes, there is an octopus in the hole in the rock, mashed up against the interior wall. And yes, I did look really hard to be sure...I'd give it 95%



This octopus had that sad whitish color, which I associate with near death...or fear. No octopus is afraid of me, of course, ha, so fear probably wasn't the problem.
 I saw this one with a den underneath a rock. The Christmas Wrasse added a bit of needed color, I thought.

 #3 didn't seem to mind me being there too much, but I didn't swoop down really close, either.
I don't know what it is, but the Ambon Puffer always looks fabulous with light on its skin.

 And these are the spines of the Blue Spined Unicorn fish.














And here's the actual fish, as it swam by.
 And the dreaded Cone Shell with its original animal inside. I didn't turn it over, so not sure what variety of Cone it is. They are one mean mutha on the reef, devouring fish and other shells.
 And here's another what not to do: don't follow the Honu!

I take my pictures of them while staying still in the water.
 Lizard fish. He stood still for many photos, but then shot off across the reef, having had enough of my snapping, apparently.
 For once, the male Trunk or Box fish from the front!














And needlefish. There were many of these, but this was a lucky catch since it was below the surface.
My pals, Sue and Charlie, were kind enough to get this seal up on the beach so I could go in immediately when I arrived....and yes, kidding! We pretty much let them do what they want. It's a law. Well, not hurting or chasing them is the law, actually.
 Spaghetti. That's how I think of it, because I can't remember the name of the animal that sends these out.
 Zebra Moray!
 It came out of the reef, then turned around and went right back in. Apparently, not ready for the big world out there.
And again today, all the octopuses were spotted in the deeper side. I can only guess that since they are smart animals, they don't want to be stepped on, so they are either really good hiders or they are going over to the deeper side, where they won't be stepped on.

Nice swim. The water behaved for the most part and no one was particularly stupid in their water skills. I'm thankful! And I didn't have to give any lectures, so that's all to the good, too.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Trois Pieuvres! Hourra!

Yes, I did have to look up the French word for Hurray! Learn something new every day. So I saw 3 of my little octo-darlings:
 He'e #1, my "regular" octopus, occupying its assigned seating. Doesn't it look as if that hole is just designed especially for it?















Octopus #2 with a Supermale Christmas Wrasse swimming by. Not sure if the fish saw the octopus, but the octopus did change color a bit, so I'll bet it saw the wrasse!
 And #3. Just sitting in its den, out in the deep side. Not sure why I'm not seeing octopuses in the shallow side...perhaps it's because people are walking on the bottom?! (Which, thank God, they can't really do in the deep side.)
Yeah, this goes in my little book on WHAT NOT TO DO!

I did have a more or less cordial conversation with one poor soul (not the one pictured above) who thought it was ok to take a walk on the bottom. When I kindly suggested that she swim, she replied that the animals were all there before she got there, so she didn't think walking would bother them. I replied that I could see how she felt that way. (Wrong, but I could see.) So I swam off. She had her swim noodle between her legs, so I could see there were many things that she wasn't clear on.....

 Blue lined butterfly
 Christmas Wrasse
 Cleaning Station: would you trust a fish to bite parasites off your gills?!














Horn Shell
 Lizard fish for Alex

 Male Trunk Fish















Peacock Grouper. I thought about counting the number of dots, but...one only has so many hours in the day.















 Pencil Urchins














 Trevally, Snowflake Moray and female Christmas Wrasse.
 Female Trunk Fish














A loaded urchin: shells, rocks, plant matter, etc.
 The adult Yellow Tailed Coris














And the juvenile of the same type of fish! 

So creative, isn't He?!

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Best Friends

I found this in the water today....sadly, pretty beat up and the black cord attached to it was grungy, so I'll remember it from my blog post. I also found this:
It was in the water near the beach, so I tossed it up out of the water onto the beach. I hope whoever lost it, finds it. But good luck: there was sand all throughout the tube. They'll have to take it apart to get all that sand out. 

And I saw 3 octopuses and a flounder! Whoop. A red letter day...
Octopus #1 just above the orange.

 In this one, you can see octopus #3 with some of its pretty blue coloration near the suckers.
 The green part on the rock helped me find this one again today.
 Octopus #2 out in the deep part. The circular things at the top are near the eyes.

 The Rock Mover Wrasse is what first attracted my attention. See Octopus #2 just below the fish's jaw..no one said octo-viewing is easy!
 Same octopus, a bit closer. I zoomed down.



And to the left, octopus #3 in its den. I would bet it moved those rocks for protective purposes. Yes, they are tool users.
And now to the flounder. Look also for the video on youtube . Search for octopigirl7.

The poor flounder thought that zooming away would make me stop following. Didn't work.

 Again, lighting helped.

I love how the light captured some of its patterns.
 And the light helped with this Ambon Puffer too: you can see the brilliant blue anal fin above and the face below.
 I'm thinking Intelligent Creator, aren't you?


Hawaiian Hogfish
 Nudibranch, hiding underneath a rock.



Pinktail Durgon in the deep side.
 Plumeria flower on the ground at my friend's house.



Some little trevally swimming around.
 Snowflake moray




 Trevally and Christmas Wrasse
And the wana....in my continuing attempt to have people NOT walk on the sea floor, just imagine stepping on these babies!

Nice water and good viewings. Ah. Life is good. Thanks, God!