I saw this Flowery Flounder in shallow water and was able to get close enough to get this close up of the fish’s head. The bumps are the eyes.
The blue markings of the fish and the rainbow in the water made for a colorful photo.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Black or Metallic.’ See more responses here.
I’m going with the Black Triggerfish for this one. This fish is very black except for distinctive light blue lines at the base of the dorsal and anal fins. Even the eyes are black and very difficult to distinguish in the water or in photos.
The exception to this is when the fish is aroused. Then, blue lines radiate from around the eyes. The more agitated the fish is, the more color is displayed until the fish is entirely blue, yellow and green, except for the fins and tail outline.
These fish often gather in large numbers high in the water, feeding on plankton and drifting algae. But they also feed lower in the water, especially when sergeant fish eggs are on the menu.
On a recent swim, I happened to pass over this Pacific Day Octopus, wedged into a crack, not far below the water’s surface. It didn’t have a good, quick escape route so waited out my intrusion into its world. On the left is a red pencil urchin that it was butted up against.
My regular swim these days, passes through the territory of the local Great Barracuda ohana. It’s quite common for them to gather in the wake of swimmers, mostly I think, in case the swimmers are spear fishing and might snag something they can steal.
Last week, this barracuda approached me from the front and gave me quite the look, but since it was no more than a foot long, I wasn’t too concerned.
A couple of days ago, I had a similar encounter with a similar-sized fish. This time the barracuda approached from dead ahead and only turned away at the last minute.
Had either of these been one of the giants, which can be three or four feet long and much bigger around, I’d probably have been wetting myself!
The second photo is posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.
Last week, I went out to Keokea Beach Park for the first time in quite a while. It’s a scenic little park, with a breakwater protecting a shallow area where kids can get in the water safely, a rarity on this stretch of coast.
Outside the breakwater, waves rolling in from the northeast had lured some surfers into the water. It looked a little hairy, riding those waves, apparently headed for the rocks. But the surfers were angling across the waves, from right to left as I looked at them, and so were pretty safe unless they made a major mistake. Those who did end up in the water were dismounting rather than wiping out.
I spotted this little blenny out in the open, but as I raised my camera it shot away into its hole in the rock. I was impressed by its lightning speed, but more so by its ability to back into its hole at that speed.
I think this is probably a Bullethead Blenny, though it’s hard to make that determination from this photo.
I like taking photos of the different kinds of fish that gather, sometimes in the same general area every day. This group caught my eye for the Bluestripe Snappers with their beautiful blue stripes on yellow bodies.
During some recent swims, I’ve been lucky enough to see this small Spotted Eagle Ray. It doesn’t tend to hang about, so the encounters have been fleeting, but the ray looks in great condition, which is always good to see.
Graham's Island 