A green turtle takes on a different appearance as it swims through the waters of Kiholo Bay. The original photo (above) already has an impressionistic look, but I experimented with a few effects and quite like the subtle difference of the posterized version below.
Spotted pufferfish can come in a variety of colors, but around here they’re mostly black or brown with white spots. Their defensive strategy is to inflate into a ball when threatened, thus making it very difficult for a predator to make a meal of them.
Actually, they’re probably doing the predators a favor since pufferfish are extremely toxic. Even very small amounts of the toxins in pufferfish can kill a human. Not surprising then that it’s illegal to serve pufferfish commercially in Hawaii, though it’s considered a delicacy in Japan. There, “fugu chefs” are licensed by the government. The properly-prepared flesh still contains trace amounts of toxins that are supposed to give the diner a warm glow. Goodness only knows what kind of liability insurance a fugu restaurant has to carry.
It’s not often that Shakespeare comes to mind with my photos, but with this one I think of the caption, “When shall we three meet again … hey, wait a minute.” The last bit might not be Shakespeare, an early draft perhaps.
These four spotted eagle rays were puttering about in clear, shallow water so I got a decent photo without getting wet.
I thought I’d seen the last of a large undulating eel when it slid under a ledge, but it re-emerged, only to slide into a crease in this patch of coral. The tail was visible for a short while, giving me this final peek, until that too disappeared.
Sailfin tang are pretty common. Usually the ones I see are a dark brown with vertical yellow bars and a yellow tail. A close look reveals thinner pale stripes between the vertical bars. There’s a photo here.
These two sailfin tangs, that I saw in shallow, murky water, were a first for me. They’re much paler and brighter, the thinner stripes are clearly defined, and their dorsal and anal fins are extended.
According to my fish book, the fins extension could be because the fish were alarmed, but it doesn’t say anything about them become lighter when this happens. I wondered if it was some sort of mating coloration, but again, my book says the fish darken when they do that.
So I’m not sure what was going on, but was happy to have spotted them and pleased that I got a decent photo given the murky water conditions.
As I did last week, I’m using the WordPress photo challenge as the cue for my posts. This week’s theme is ‘Rounded.’
From the right angle, flowery flounders are as round as dinner plates. This one caught the light just so as it glided over the rocks.
Another post on the theme of ‘Glow,’ this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
I saw this green turtle swimming in clear water while out walking. I like how the late afternoon light causes the turtle’s shell to glow in contrast to its cool, blue environment.
This week’s WordPress photo challenge is on the theme of scale. The idea is to “experiment with placement and scale to show how big (or small) you can feel in a photo.”
These photos don’t do that. It’s not the image that speaks to scale, it’s the name. I mean, this isn’t a big blenny, or a huge blenny, or even a giant blenny. This is a gargantuan blenny. I feel like I should type the word in all caps – GARGANTUAN – to do it justice.
The photos were taken on different days, but in the same area, and it’s probably the same fish. The bright spots are more numerous toward the front and really catch the light in the second photo.
And just how big is this blenny? Typically, they top out at about 7 inches long and this fish was probably about that, but in blenny-world, 7 inches is, well, GARGANTUAN.
Graham's Island 