Tag Archives: Clare’s Share Your Desktop

A curious Green Turtle

A young green turtle catches the light as it swims by in the waters off Hawaii

I rarely post for Clare’s Share Your Desktop (here) for the simple reason that I rarely change my desktop image. But a couple of days ago, I was snorkeling off Honoka’ope Beach (commonly known as 49 Black Sand Beach) at Mauna Lani Resort and ran into this little fellow.

The turtle was probably around 18 inches long, head to tail, and in great condition, with a beautiful shell that glowed as it caught the light. Being a younger turtle, it was also quite curious, having not yet learned that people are pretty dull, clumsy in the water, and possibly dangerous. It stuck around for several minutes, coming quite close on a couple of occasions, before easing away, out of view.

I took half a dozen photos and any of them would have made a good desktop image, but the top one is the one that I’m currently running with.

A young green turtle catches the light as it swims by in the waters off Hawaii

Whitetip Reef Shark

A Whitetip Reef Shark in the waters off Hawaii
A Whitetip Reef Shark in the waters off Hawaii

I rarely post for Clare’s Share Your Desktop challenge for the simple reason that I rarely change my desktop. But yesterday, I saw this Whitetip Reef Shark and thought the top image deserved a run on my computer screen.

My first sight of the shark was the second image. I suddenly saw this large shape gliding below me, having snuck up on me from behind! I’d been thinking it had been a long time since I’d seen a shark so I was thrilled to see this one, especially since the water was pretty clear and not too deep. I love the sinuous movement in this second photo! The shark disappeared under a ledge for a short time, but then reemerged and swam up a shallow cliff face and away over the reef, leaving me a very happy swimmer.

A green turtle says hello

A Green turtle, with a slender remora on its shell, checks out the photographer

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).

A green turtle swims by