Category Archives: Fish

Spot the flounder

A flowery flounder on sand in the waters off Hawaii

Yes, there’s a fish in this photo. I admit it’s not easy to see because flounders are very good at blending in. But after I took this photo, the flounder did a little shimmy, stirring up the sand. I thought it had zipped away, but realized it couldn’t have. Looking hard, I spotted two little bumps, its eyes, protruding above the smooth layer of sand. I didn’t bother taking a photo because they wouldn’t have shown up.

It’s the first time I’ve seen a flounder doing that sand shimmy. It was certainly effective.

Update: To help in spotting the flounder, in the bottom third of the photo on the right side, there’s an ear-shaped rocky bit that sticks into the sand. The sand shows mostly as lines and dots, but just to the left of the rocky bit, in the center of the photo, there’s an area of little circles. That’s the fish. After the sand shimmy, those circles were all covered with sand with only the eye bumps protruding. You can see why I didn’t bother to photograph that.

The Numbers Game #69

Clouds fill the saddle between Mauna Kea and Hualalai.

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

A wasp working on a nest.
King Kamehameha's statue in Kapaau, is draped in leis on Kamehameha Day.
King Kamehameha’s statue after it was draped with leis in remembrance of his birthday.
The beach at Kohanaiki Beach Park in Hawaii
A beach at Kohanaiki Beach Park.
A pair of Threadfin Jack juveniles swim in the waters off the Big Island of Hawaii
A pair of juvenile Threadfin Jacks.
A Red Admiral butterfly.
The geothermal energy plant in Puna surrounded by lava after the 2018 eruption.

The Numbers Game #68

The lava cone and lake at Kilauea Volcano in late 2021
The 2021 eruption at Kilauea Volcano.

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

A Pinktail Triggerfish.
A delicate shade seen underwater.
Old anchor and chain at Mahukona.
A White-Lined Sphinx Moth Caterpillar.
A grumpy Green Anole.
A full moon on the rise
A full moon rises over Kohala.

Purple patches

A Manybar Goatfish in the waters off Hawaii
A guilty-looking Manybar Goatfish.

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Purple.’ See more responses here. Captions on the photos.

Colored lines on a table fan in Hawaii
Lines on a table fan.
A purple orchid in Hawaii
A purple orchid
A bee on a Queen’s Wreath flower.
A purple Outrigger Canoe in Hawaii
Outrigger canoe racing.

The Numbers Game #67

A Japanese White-eye on a pink banana flower.

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

Sunset off Kohala.
Lesser Grass Blue Butterflies.
Vireya Rhododendron flowers.
Orchid Onc. Tsuiki Magueritte.
A Snowflake Moray Eel.
A lava breakout from the Kilauea lava flow.
A lava breakout on a 2016 Kilauea lava flow. The couple on the right hadn’t yet noticed it. Original post here.

A small world

Tiny fish shelter in a tangle of lines in the waters off Hawaii
Tiny fish shelter in a tangle of lines in the waters off Hawaii

During a recent swim, I saw a small tangle of lines floating in the water. While I’m not a fan of debris ending up in the ocean, I know these kinds of thing can have a positive side, so I headed over to check it out.

While I liked the color and reflections of the scene, what I was looking for was whether this floating raft sheltered anything. I had to look closely, but saw a few tiny fish hiding in the lines. As I approached from one side, they disappeared to the other. We played this game for a while and I was able to get a few photos.

I don’t know what the fish were, but they were likely juveniles of one of the pelagic species. They were very small, a half to three quarters of an inch long. The clump of line itself was only 6 to 9 inches across. But such environments provide valuable shelter for a variety of tiny creatures. It was only when I looked at the photos that I noticed another one, the small orange crab on one of the lines.

Oceanic Blacktip Shark

An Oceanic Blacktip Shark in the waters off Hawaii

OK, so it’s not a great photo, but this is the first time I’ve seen an Oceanic Blacktip Shark. At the time, I didn’t know what it was, but another snorkeler, who has had a few encounters, was able to ID it.

Reef sharks aren’t considered dangerous here, but there are oceanic varieties of both blacktips and whitetips. Oceanic Whitetip Sharks are considered very dangerous, but are rarely seen close to shore. Oceanic Blacktips are more of an unknown quantity, something to be wary of on the rare occasions they’re encountered.