Deep Treasures

 Overcast and still this morning made me think the sea would be glass on the Kona coast.  Good day for diving.  I was hoping for dolphin bow riders as we exited Honokohau harbor, but the dolphins were sleeping elsewhere.  There's the green can that's moored at 90 feet, with an anchor chain pile on a concrete block that's home for some very exotic creatures.

For a bit of a geek-out, I was stoked to see Mark from Queensland, a wreck diver, show up with not only a DIN reg but a long hose rig.  Here we are as neighbors. Turned around and there was Laura.

 

Immediately in the water, Laura and Doug found some Indigo Dart fish.  Here they are, though one is lurking behind the other one..

We cruised around the drop-off west of Pine Trees and again Doug had the eagle eye, spotting a Curious Wormfish.  I chased it for a while and didn't think I'd got a shot of it, but here it is.  Around the same area I found a Rockmover Wrasse turning rocks over, an Orange Spine Unicorn fish, a Leaf Scorpion deep in a coral head, and a 4 spot Butterfly.

 

Kevin awesomely spotted some tiny beauties: A Hawaiian Lionfish and a Bicolor Nudibranch.

Back near shore we explored some overhangs with White Tip Reef Sharks.  My shots are out of focus so you'll have to go find Laura's pics for that.

There was a lot of surge inshore, and that made Nudi shots a drive-by affair.  Still managed to get a few good shots, Including a Gold lace Nudi and a yellow Baby Frogfish.  So cute!

 After a surface interval we headed for deeper water, looking for rare creatures and hoping for some big pelagics.  The biggest I saw was a whole school of big Ulua; but no Tiger sharks. What we did find was a rare Green Lionfish.  My best shot of it was sadly a bit out of focus, so again look for Laura's pics for a better one.

 

While we were still in deep water we found some other great critters: A Whitestripe Cleaner Shrimp at the mouth of a hole, waiting for a fish to show up to detail.  A few feet up the reef I found an Undulated Eel with a couple of Orange Band Cleaner shrimp getting the job done.

 

On the way back up the reef toward the mooring Doug and Laura were gathered around a small outcropping of rock and coral.  I got there in time to see the small Stout Moray before it retreated into its puka.

Additionally,  a few of the usual creatures: Raccoon Buttefly front view, Moorish Idol, and a Black Longnose Butterfly, endemic to Hawaii, being photobombed by a normal Longnose.