Category Archives: Fish

Bright and beautiful

A Carpenter bee male at Lapakahi in Hawaii
A male Sonoran Carpenter Bee enjoys the sunshine.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful.’ See more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

Reef fish at Two Step in Hawaii
Reef fish at Two Step.
A Bromeliad in Hawaii
Aechmea blanchetiana bromeliad.
An Ember Parrotfish in the waters off Hawaii
An Ember Parrotfish.
A Crowned Jellyfish in the waters off Hawaii
A Crowned Jellyfish catches the light.
A Rcl Sharon king 'Volcano Queen' orchid at the Hilo Orchid Show in Hawaii
Rcl Sharon king ‘Volcano Queen’ orchid.
Sunset on the Kohala coast in Hawaii
North Kohala sunset.

Showdown at Viper Rock

Giant Porcupinefishes in the waters off Hawaii

When I go snorkeling, I often go by a place known as Viper Rock. It got this name because in this rock is a small cave that was often occupied by a large Viper Moray Eel. I haven’t seen the eel in a long time, but the cave often has other occupants.

On a recent swim, a Giant Porcupinefish had claimed the spot and it rebuffed the approach of a smaller Giant Porcupinefish several times (top photo).

Giant Porcupinefishes in the waters off Hawaii
Giant Porcupinefishes in the waters off Hawaii

Next day when I got there, there were two Giant Porcupinefishes outside the entrance to the cave. Several times they swam towards the cave, then came back towards me (middle photos). It was only when I shifted my position a bit that I could see, inside the cave, the shape of a large lobster (bottom photo). It’s just to the left of the top porcupinefish, in the shadowy cave. Clearly the two fish did not relish the prospect of trying to evict the lobster!

Giant Porcupinefishes and lobster in the waters off Hawaii

Posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #98

Lahaina noon at Kawaihae, Hawaii
Where’s the shadow? It’s Lahaina noon! Original post here.

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 220. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

Great Frigatebirds on the wing.
A Fiery Skipper butterfly on a Tree Heliotrope.
A bee approaching an agave flower.
Rainbow over a tsunami siren.
A snowflake moray eel in the rocks
A Snowflake Eel playing peekaboo.
Spencer Beach Park at Kawaihae.

The Numbers Game #97

A Goldring Surgeonfish and its shadow, or is it? It looks that way, but the shadow is a different fish!

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 219. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

A juvenile Threadfin Jack, one of my favorite fish.
Raindrops on shiny metal.
A shoal of Yellow Tangs having breakfast.
HIghfin Chubs cruising just below the water surface.
A young mourning gecko hides under a tire.
A Mourning Gecko choosing a bad hiding place.
A bee in the flower of a Cannonball Tree.

The Numbers Game #95

A black triggerfish showing colors when it is agitated or aroused
An aroused Black Triggerfish.

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 217. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Northern Pintails.
A native I’iwi.
Divers in the waters off the Big Island of Hawaii.
Divers down!
The blooms of a yucca plant.
Yucca flowers.
Sailboats in Kawaihae Harbor.
The entrance to Emesine Lava Tube on the Powerline Trail off Saddle Road.
The entrance to Emesine Lava Tube on the Powerline Trail.