Category Archives: Fish

The Numbers Game #28

A view into Waipio Valley.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 149. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A Scrawled Filefish swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Scrawled Filefish.
A Flowery Flounder swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Flowery Flounder.
A green turtle swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Green Turtle.
The Pride of America anchored off Kailua Kona.
Two Nenes confront a mongoose.
An old bomber which crashed in the Kohala Mountains. Original post here.

Scarface Blenny

A Scarface Blenny Peeks out from under a step at Mahukona, Hawaii

You don’t have to go far to see something interesting in the water. This Scarface Blenny hangs out around the ladder for getting in and out of the water at my local snorkel spot! I’d seen it before, but not been able to get a photo of it.

A few days ago, I had my camera ready as I approached the ladder. Sure enough, I saw the blenny’s head sticking out from below one of the ladder’s rungs. It quickly disappeared, but I hung on to the ladder to see if it would return. It did, and I was able to get a couple of shots.

I thought this was a Gargantuan Blenny, but when I got home and looked at the photos, I realized that the red eye ring and red marks on the face meant this was actually a Scarface Blenny. Both these blennies are endemic but the Scarface Blenny is slightly smaller than the other.

A Scarface Blenny Peeks out from under a step at Mahukona, Hawaii

The Numbers Game #27

An F-22 Raptor flies by at Kahului Airport, Maui.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 148. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A spinner dolphin doing what it’s named for.
A grasshopper wondering if it could do that!
A Great Frigatebird knows it doesn’t have to do any spinning because it glides supremely well.
A manta ray swims in the waters off Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii
A manta ray swims in the waters off Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii
A manta ray swims in the waters off Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii
This Manta Ray is quietly confident it can spin and glide with the best of them!

The Numbers Game #26

Sunrise from the road to Mauna Loa Observatory, now no longer accessible since the 2022 eruption.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 147. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A view of Rainbow Falls in Hilo Hawaii
Rainbow Falls in Hilo.
The stairs down to Kaumana Caves in Hilo.
A view of a river gully on the Hamakua Coast in Hawaii as seen from the air
A view of Kealakaha Stream gully, on the Hamakua Coast, from the air.
A Black Triggerfish looking agitated in the waters off Hawaii
An agitated Black Triggerfish.
Hawaiian Zebra blenny and Padina japonica in a tide pool in Hawaii
Hawaiian Zebra Blenny in a filed of Padina japonica seaweed.
A view of Mauna Kea from Mauna Loa showing Pahoehoe and A’a lava flows side by side.

Scrawled Filefish

A Scrawled Filefish in the waters off Hawaii

When I first saw this Scrawled Filefish, I tried and failed to get any decent photos, so I carried on swimming. When I looked behind me a bit later, I saw the fish following me as they sometimes do, and I got this photo.

Scrawled Filefish are not just curious looking, they’re also curious fish. They will often trail swimmers, checking them out.

Blacktip Reef Shark

A Blacktip Reef Shark in the waters off Hawaii

I don’t see sharks a lot, but when I do they’re usually Whitetip Reef Sharks, which are fairly common around the island. I’ve seen others, including a few Blacktip Reef Sharks, but haven’t got photos of them before.

A few days ago, snorkeling out of Lapakahi, this Blacktip Reef Shark emerged out of hazy waters, heading my way. When it saw me, it veered off to the side, zipped past, and continued on its way. The shark was no more than four feet long, but there was no mistaking it with those markings.

It was a short encounter, so I only took a few photos and, given the conditions, had no great hopes that the photos would be any good, or that the shark would even be in them! So I was pleased that this one shot turned out halfway decent.

Lurking

A Spotted Coral Blenny peeks out from a head of Cauliflower Coral in Hawaii

I took this photo of a head of Cauliflower Coral because I was happy about how healthy it looked. Then I saw that I was being watched. This Spotted Coral Blenny was wedged into the coral head, as they do, clearly waiting for me to move on.

Well, it is the last of the month, so time for me to move forward into June and for the blenny to go about his business.

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.