Conditions have been terrible for snorkeling lately. There’s been one swell after another barreling in from the northwest, which is good news for surfers, but which churns up the water and makes it hard to see anything.
Despite this, there can be clear patches and it was passing through one of these that I saw this school of chubs swimming by me, nicely illuminated by the sunlight.
Moorish Idols are one of the most easily identified fish around here, with their distinctive colors, markings, and shape. These juveniles lack the long filament on their dorsal fins, but otherwise have typical appearance. Moorish Idols are considered of the smartest reef fishes.
These tables were at a restaurant on the coast in front of the Hilton Hotel. I noticed that each table had a small pair of binoculars on them, probably because we’re in the Humpback Whale season. I thought that was a nice touch. I don’t know what the food’s like though.
I took some photos in the water a while back, planning on doing a series. I posted one and then forgot about them. Here’s another one.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘2021 in Your Rear-View Mirror.’ See more responses here. I’ve gone with a favorite photo from each month of 2021, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in.
Belted Wrasses are endemic to Hawaii. This one is a supermale, and while it’s not the greatest photo, I like how the light illuminates its bright colors with the vibrant blue lines particularly emphasized.
Incidentally, I’ve decided to start capitalizing the creatures named in the blog. I think it helps when proper names contain words that can be mistaken for descriptions. Now all I have to do is remember this decision!
A flowery flounder scoots over rocks before settling down and blending in. I like these flounders because they always look grumpy!
I was snorkeling yesterday, when I looked up and saw this green turtle coming towards me. It was near the surface and heading up so I thought it might be about to take a breath. Instead, the turtle, which was quite small, leveled off and kept coming my way.
Usually, in the water, I have a bit of zoom on my camera since that’s often needed. In this instance, I zoomed out and found myself leaning back to keep the turtle in the image. It came within a foot of me and I thought we were going to butt heads, but at the last moment it stopped, veered, then swooped down and away.
It wasn’t until I got home and processed my photos that I noticed the slender remora on the turtle’s shell, behind its head. Remoras, which don’t harm their hosts, attach themselves by means of a sucker disk on their heads, so what can be seen on this turtle is the underside of the fish.
I don’t change my desktop image often, but the top photo makes me so happy I popped it up immediately, so I’m posting it in response to Clare’s monthly Share Your Desktop challenge (see more responses here).
Graham's Island 