Suck 'em up and Eel Cove 6/8/21

 Not diving a lot lately–no reason, just taking a break.  But back in the water today with Kona Honu Divers and the Ohana Tuesday gang.

Ocean conditions were perfect with very light chop, hardly any wind and negligible swell.  Once in the water at Suck'em up I felt a slight current, but it soon died out and wasn't a problem.  We headed for the dropoff, planning to come back to the lava tube at the end.  On the way out I found a Saddle Wrasse and a Raccoon butterfly catching shade under a ledge. 

We didn't see any big pelagics out there, nor any Tinkers, which is what i was looking for, so we headed back in toward the lava tubes and did Skull Rock first.  Vis was kind of murky at the entrance but it seemed better once inside.  I took a video and will post a link to it here.  Rob found a big Spiny Lobster in the ceiling, and I tried to get a shot of it, well, part of it...he was way back in his hole.

But the coolest thing as we left Skull Cave was  what we found at the exit of Suck 'em up.  This huge turtle decided to launch out of the small sluiceway (to the surface) that Suck'em up exits into.  I was looking straight into the hole as he swam out.  Then he did a fly over.

 

 

Back out in deeper water I found a young Tiger Snake eel, and a Barred Filefish decided to come check me out. The big Rockmover wrasse ignored me until i started turning over rocks for her.  Then she liked me. But this was not what most of the fish today were doing.  For instance, the Female Whitley's ran away before i could get a shot, and so did a big Ulua.  I guess the fish are growing a bit tired of returning divers now that boats are mostly full, or maybe it's just me.

 

 

So Rob found a coral head with two Leaf Scorpionfish, one magenta and one mostly white.  Heres the White one; the magenta was too deep in the antlers to get my light on him.  Laura C Found a White Margin Nudi just out under a ledge.  He was actually moving pretty well, on his way somewhere, as white margin nudis are apt to do.

  Along the wall south of the mooring at Eel Cove, near Rose Garden we found a big Tiger Cowry in a hole.  Lzura C found a young Spotted Puffer under a ledge.  I had to get way down into a rocky crevasse to get the shot.

This Bluespine Unicorn wasn't shy, and hug out until he was satisfied I'd got a shot of his best side.  The juvenile Blackside hawkfish was totally uncernec that I was there.  Most of the time they swim away as I pull the shutter, giving me a smear of color at 1`/200 sec exposure.  This one just sat there, thanks.