Cloud cover shrouded Honokohau Harbor in Kona this morning. It was low tide at the Kona Honu Divers _Honu One_ slip so we had to sit on the platform and drop down onto the deck.. Captain Connor thought we'd head north to try and find some sunshine. It was a super chill day and Milo summed up the vibe perfectly.
We did find sunshine up past Pine Trees and the first thing that I was as i dropped into the crystal clear, warming ocean was an Octopus on the move. He'll show up in the video, but I didn't get any still shots of him due to his high rate of speed in a direction away from me.
Then a truly remarkable thing happened, something I'd never seen, but that Connor later said he'd seen before. This Spotted Puffer was on course to do a flyby closing on me like an opposing fighter jet. OK, this same thing happened two days ago at exactly the same spot. Maybe it's the same Puffer?
Here's the crazy part: instead of zipping past me like the other day, this Puffer turned back toward me and circled me, then actually swam right onto me, noodling around on my chest and sides, actually touching me. This went on for a little while until Milo came and nudged him away before anything more intimate had time to develop. So, did I make a Puffer friend who recognized me and came to cuddle? I prefer to think so.
Onward, and a little white mouth Eel poked out of a hole as I came by. Under a ledge I found a nice big Four Spot Butterfly, and ... another Spotted Puffer! This guy was nestled in a small depression in the reef and he didn't seem to mind me taking a pic. I guess I might be a Puffer Whisperer now.
As we approached a wall Milo pointed to a small indentation. There was a White Margin Nudi on some red sponges.
I often overlook common, small fish that hang around coral heads and urchins but today I took a pic of some tiny Blackfin Chromis under an urchin. Out near the dropoff we found a Flowery Flounder flying freely across the reef. I chased him and got some video, until he lighted on a rock and i could get a shot of his face.
Milo found the first of at least two Gold Lace nudis, and I ran across some of the leather coral I saw the other day, this time surrounding a healthy cauliflower coral. Lots of Raccoon Butterflies today, here are the first couple.
On the way back to the mooring, I was scanning the rubble for Dragon Srasses, which i did find a bit later, but at that moment a Clerarfin Lizardfish zipped onto som eflat rocks right in front of me. Wow.
After our SI we were back in the water at another of my favorite spots where I wiffed on a Wirecoral Gobie last week. Got him today, but right below the mooring a Devil Scorpion was jumping from rock to rock. I wanted to get his colorful fins extended, but he was stubborn and didn't move for me. So here's Mr. Grumpy Scorpion. And in then ext little swale with sandy rubble I found the Dragon Wrasse I was hoping for.
Continuing through the maze of lava dikes I found another nice Raccoon Butterfly, and Milo found another nice nudi, this time a Strawberry.
I run into a number of Blackside hawkfishes lately, maybe that's because they're common, but I still think they're cool, and they just sit there so you can get photos. Milo was a nudi magnet today. Here's another Gold lace that he found.
Of the three Dragon Wrasses I saw I only got a pic of one of them, above, but i did find a charlie foxtrot of adult Rockmovers doing their thing along with a Lei Trigger.
Finally, I searched out the wirecoral where the little Wirecoral Gobie was last week. I figured he'd still be there because they usually hang out on the same wirecoral for their whole lives. Sure enough he was there and this time I got a nice pic.
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