Diving the Kona Coast: Saddleback Butterflyfish

Showing posts with label Saddleback Butterflyfish. Show all posts

Friday, March 26, 2010

Prince Kuhio Day - Dive Report for Friday March 26, 2010

Today is Prince Jonah Kuhio Day, a state holiday in Hawai'i and yours truly had the day off which was spent wisely at the beach.

On the first dive I found this Common Bigeye sheltered under a ledge. Note the silvery sheen on its dorsal surface. These fish always stay tucked away during the daylight hours.

I always have a difficult time getting close enough to Bluespine Unicornfish to get good photos. They tend to swim off when you begin to draw close. These are very aptly named fish with a prominent horn projecting forward from between the eyes. They are a beautiful light blue color.

The photos above are of an Orangespine Unicornfish. Despite the name, these fish don't have a horn on their heads. Go figure! What they do have is an ornately decorated face that reminds me of a tribal mask. Like other unicornfish, it's hard for me to get close enough for a good shot.

Undulated Morays, like this one, are sometimes aggressive. This one was pretty shy, keeping tucked in its coral haven and foiling any attempt to get a clear shot.

I'm still seeing a lot of octopus and a respected divemaster has told me that this is their mating season (the octopi's, not the divemasters'). Anyway, I've tried to cut back on octophotos but this one was just to cooperative. I was particularly pleased with the one where it blanched mostly white.

A try at an artistic shot with a sunny background. The fish is a Threadfin Butterflyfish.

The turtles are all doing well today. The one in the top photo is getting a good cleaning by a gaggle of tangs.

Saddleback Butterflyfish are beautifully colored and are one of my wife's favorites. They usually travel in pairs but this one was going solo.

Ornate Butterflyfish cue up at a cleaning station awaiting their appointments with a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse.

On the second dive I saw yet another Day Octopus. I limited myself to this one photo. It was a nice day of diving. My only complaint is that the water is getting colder instead of warmer. Hopefully that will change soon.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Sea of Love - Belated Dive Report for Valentine's Day, Sunday 02/14/10

Sorry for the delay but Valentine's activities consumed the rest of the day and then the work week began and before I knew it we were at mid-week.

So-so conditions at Honaunau Bay on Sunday. Moderate swells and a fair amount of particulate matter in the water with visibility around eighty feet. The water was a touch colder at about 76 degrees.

My first dive was just a little after sunrise and I caught this Spotted Pufferfish still napping on the plate coral. Sometimes they also rest in sand patches. There is a mixed school of several species of puffers that hangs in the water column just beyond the drop-off during daylight hours.

This little Hawaiian Dascyllus has attitude far out of proportion to its small size. It boldly approached me, trying to persuade me to leave its territory by making quick darting movements at me. This is common behavior for this species and sometimes they even make faint clicking noises when trying to chase off interlopers.

Early morning finds a number of Peacock Grouper visiting cleaning stations around the reef. These robust fish were introduced to Hawaiian waters in the late 1950's for reasons that aren't clear to me. They are inedible as their diet of small reef fish fills them with ciguatera toxin. They can often be seen following eels or octopi, hoping to snatch any small creatures that may be flushed out.

The second dive provided lots of photo ops of Green Sea Turtles. I've been putting a lot of honu pics in recent posts so I'll limit myself to this one shot of a turtle hanging on the surface.

Saddleback Butterflyfish are my wife's favorite fish. They have beautiful coloration accented by the dark black "saddle" on the upper rear quarter. They usually occur in pairs, but this one was definitely all alone on Valentine's Day.

A fairly nice day of diving but no surprises or hidden treasures. There were, again, Humpback Whales outside the bay but no breeching that I saw.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dive Report for Saturday 01/09/2010

There was major rockin' and rollin' going on in the southern part of Honaunau Bay on Saturday. One major northwest swell was just ending and another one soon to arrive so Saturday offered a brief window for shore diving. Weather was beautiful, though with clear skies and a nice breeze.

I had my wife, Betty, as my dive buddy on the first dive which was really nice. Visibility was, as expected, pretty poor with lots of stirred up sand and a range of around 50'. Also a lot of surge and depths shallower than 30'. Above is a juvenile Thompson's Surgeonfish. Although plainly colored, this is a pretty little fish with a nice lyre-shaped tail.

Hawaiian Dascyllus are common around Honaunau. When they are young they hide in branching coral, seldom wandering very far. When they reach adulthood they swim about the reef and establish individual territories which they very defend very boldly.

The Saddleback Butterflyfish is one of the most beautiful fish in Hawaiian waters. It is also one of the hardest for me to get a good photograph of. They tend to keep their distance and are very skittish. This behavior, coupled with today's water conditions, again kept me from getting good results. Usually they are seen in pairs but this one was by itself.

I wanted to make sure Betty got to see the colony of juvenile Pyramid Butterflyfish on the slope drop-off. They're still there and doing well. i know that someday I'll come to this spot to discover they've left for steeper drop-offs.

On the return leg of the dive we made a pleasant discovery. This little fish is a seldom-seen hybrid of a Goldrim Tang and an Achilles Tang. These two species tend to congregate together and every now and then produce an attractive mixture of the best qualities of each. This fish was swimming in shallow water with heavy surge and didn't want his photo taken

After a surface interval I returned to the water. Someone reported a rope caught on the reef in the south end of the bay. I went over to see if I could retrieve it but with the heavy surge and poor visibility I couldn't even find it. This burned a lot of air so I didn't take many photos. I did see this Orangemouth Lizardfish resting in sand and coral rubble. It has multiple bands of small, fine teeth behind those fiery lips and preys on small fish.

It was another fine day at the beach. After rinsing gear and a little nap, we headed into town to do a little shopping. As we drove, the setting sun was spectacular. I was able to pull over in time to take a photo of its last rays as it settled between papaya trees.

A good day of diving and enjoying life in Hawai'i. As our hometowns shiver in snow and cold, Betty and I count ourselves fortunate to be here at this stage of our lives. It is amazing how life can lead you in directions you never imagined!