Swimming Nudibranch

Nudibranchs are the marine equivalent of a garden slug. However, unlike terrestrial slugs, nudibranchs can often be quite colorful and attractive. The largest of the Hawaiian nudibranchs is the Spanish dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus) which can sometimes achieve a length of over one foot.

While most nudibranchs crawl across the substrate, the Spanish dancer, when alarmed, can swim through the water column by flexing and extending its body in an undulating fashion. In doing so, its extended mantle waves rhythmically much like a flamenco dancer's skirt!

Sleeping Sharks

There have been a lot of whitetip reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus) in Honaunau Bay over the last couple of months. One morning I found eight of them crammed tightly together under a small ledge in shallow water. In addition to the shark's head in this photo, you can see the back of one and the tail of another.

Commerson's frogfish seen at Honaunau

A few months back I encountered this medium-sized Commerson's frogfish (Antennarius commerson) at the north end of Honaunau Bay. I was able to get some decent photos including this one of it swimming.

Frogfish aren't built for swimming but are wondrously well adapted for sitting still, so to see this one swim for a short distance was interesting. While sorely lacking in either speed or endurance, the frogfish has an ingenious form of propulsion wherein it forces jets of water from ducts under its "arms" (pectoral fins) to give it an extra boost.

Also kind of cool (to me) is this final shot where you can see the thin spine sprouting from the forehead with a bushy "lure" at the end. The lure is called an esca and is jiggled by the frogfish to lure unsuspecting prey close to its generously-sized mouth. And thus, the Circle of Life remains unbroken.  Hakuna Matata!

Fresh Manta Ray Pics from Keauhou Bay

I haven't posted for a while over concerns that my photos were showing up on the internet in places I never intended them to be. As a result, I am now putting the copyright directly on the photo instead of putting it in the caption. I hate to be so petty but, even with my relatively unsophisticated equipment, it takes a lot of time, preparation and effort to obtain these photos and I don't enjoy others taking them as their own work. 'Nuff said.

The winter swells are subsiding and I recently made a sojourn to lovely, if somewhat busy, Keauhou Bay to commune with the manta rays. Fortune favored me as I saw three different mantas over the course of two dives. I also saw a sandbar shark but only briefly and from a distance.

As usual, the mantas were present to be cleaned by the various wrasses but they seemed to take longer to "settle down" to be cleaned. Perhaps they haven't had many daytime divers around during the winter and they weren't used to having company.

Nevertheless, it was a good time and I returned with some satisfying photos to share. Conditions were fair with a higher than average amount of marine "snow" making photography a bigger challenge.

Betty and I witnessed some huge surf roll into Keauhou Bay this past winter but the reef seems in good shape compared to Honaunau which took a huge beating.

Well, that's all folks! Mahalo for stopping by.

Beautiful Sea Turtles

All Photos Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Green Sea Turtles                       Chelonia mydas

Jaws Jr.

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

reef lizardfish                                  Synodus variegatus

Swiggles and Dots

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

The eyestripe surgeonfish (Acanthurus dussumieri) have been making much closer approaches during the early dives. If I don't over-expose the shot, an intricate patterning is visible on the body and tail.

Ctenophore

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Every once in a while, I happen across one of these comb jellies on my early morning dives. Usually, they look pretty beat up and are always hard to photograph with the simple equipment I use. Their bodies have a surprising resistance to compression, despite the squishy-sounding common name.

Sleepy Puffer

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

spotted puffer             Arothron meleagris

Dark Reef

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

green sea turtle                 Chelonia mydas

Netted Pattern

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

reticulated butterflyfish             Chaetodon reticulatus

At the Shorebreak

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Hawaiian green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

Golden Trumpet

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Pacific Trumpetfish          Aulostomus chinensis

Flocking Goats

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

On the North side of Honaunau Bay is a school of yellowfin goatfish (Mulloidichthys varicolensis) that is there every time I pass by. All day long, season after season this school hovers motionless almost in the same spot. As a result, I tend not to pay it much notice.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

However, I noticed recently how pretty this group of fish appears, especially in the early morning as the sunlight filters through the water. Usually, there are one or two other fish mixed in the school. Goatfish are so named for the two sensory barbels on their chins that distantly resemble a goat's beard. At night, the school disperses and each individual probes the sand with its barbels in search of invertebrates to eat. Come sunrise, they have all regrouped at the customary spot.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

Skinny-Minnie

Encountered on almost every reef dive, the Bluespotted Cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii) is so common I seldom photograph it.  Still, it's an interesting fish that looks like it has been run over by a steamroller. Even the eyes look flattened!

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

The cornetfish only moves the rear third of its body as it swims. While appearing very slender in profile, when viewed from above it is surprisingly stout.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

on night dives I have heard this species "honk" when startled by the beam of my light passing over it. 

Golden Slug

In addition to finding that shark last weekend, I also found this gold lace nudibranch (Halgerda terramtuentis) sliding on the wall of a lava tube.

Photos Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

It's always a nice surprise to find one of these colorful cousins of terrestrial slugs as they're not that common.

Election Day 2012

Here in Hawai'i, we have early voting so Betty and I voted the Saturday before Election Day. This freed me up to do a little diving on Tuesday. I had a couple of really nice dives but the second one was really special. I found a small Hawaiian Red Lionfish also known as a Hawaiian Turkeyfish (Pterois sphex).

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

This is only the fourth time in twelve years I've seen one of these in Kona. Apparently, they used to be fairly common but they've been over-collected for the aquarium trade and are really rare now. The spines of these fish are very venomous inflicting a sting that is very painful. The last time I saw one was when I was still shooting film instead of digital so that's a long time!

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

Surprises like this are what makes diving so much fun. It's no always the big, glamorous stuff that makes for a special dive. Sometimes a small surprise like this is more than enough!

White Leaf Scorpionfish

Another interesting find this weekend was this large, pale leaf scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus) sitting out in the open in the shallows. These are often tucked into crevices during the daylight hours, so to find one out in the open was a nice surprise.

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

These fish will sway back and forth in the surge, mimicking the movement of a fallen leaf in the water.

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler