Not three but Four Frogfish!

 So today we went back to the spot where I found the Flying Gurnard two days ago.  I always love to dive this spot because the reef is so healthy and there are so many animals. We even sometimes see dolphins.  And we'd also seen three big, yellow frogfish sitting out on big rocks just waiting for lunch to wander by.

Today there were four of them, all within about 50 meters diameter from the mooring in the direction of the dropoff.  Here they are pretty much in the order in which I found them.  As far as I can tell, they are all Commerson's Frogfish, one of the most common and largest species in Hawaii.

While I was hunting down the frogfish, which to be fair isn't hard since they sit out on the rocks motionless in full view, I glimpsed a fairly cool and not that common fish, the Potter's Angel.  They, like all Hawaiian angelfish are skittish, and its hard to get a bead on them with a camera in time before they flit away.  

This One was like that; I chased it all over the reef, burning through my breathing gas, before he stuck his head out of a hole and I got at lease part of him.  Why its so hard to get these pics is that the reefs are built up in a kind of latticework of interconnected coral branches with big interior areas where fish can hide.  Often we will see a fish, raise the camera, and before you know it they dart into the depths of the reef never to be seen again.

Other fish, like the Threadfin Butterfly, cruise the reef looking for snacks and care less what the camera-toting bubble blowers are up to.

You have to keep your head on a swivel out on the reefs; there are definitely animals that will defend their territories.  One of these is the Undulated Eel.  Here one is signaling me to leave the area.

More docile are the White mouth Morays like this one.  They just sit with their heads poking out of their holes hoping for a morsel to chance by, or maybe just to admire the beautiful reef.

I found all these eels within about a ten minute span.  This one, a Yellowmargin Eel, was the deepest, hanging out in a pile of rocks on the sandy bottom at about 80 feet depth.  Interesting that in the hole with him was a Whiteline Cleaner Shrimp.  These often live with yellowmargins and clean them up when they need a spa treatment.  Bonus sighting here was the juvenile Bicolor Anthias.  Another impossibly skittish fish that will disappear at the slightest hint of human presence.  Naturally, since I'm usually the last diver to get to them, I rarely see any.

 

 

 Another fish getting cleaneds was this male Bullethead Parrotfish.  He's being cleaned by a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse, a very common and well regarded fish out on the reefs.  

Further below and from the first dive is the resident Porcupine Pufferfish in one of the large arches formed when lava tubes collapsed long ago.  He's being sideswiped by a young Bigeye.

I cant seem to resist photographing the Raccoon Butterflies,  Their coloration is so stunning.  Nearby to the Raccoon one of our divers found this beautiful Red Spot Nudibranch.  I've seen about four of them in my entire time diving in Kona.

Back in the rubble near the mooring I can always count on the Yellowtail Coris to be my companion.  Many have learned that divers will turn over rocks for them revealing tasty treats.  Here's on that wanted to be my BFF.

Finally! I chase down a Flying Gurnard

 As each year has passed I notice that there are some ocean critters I have yet to see, and everyone else seems to run into them with ease.  The Oriental Flying Gurnard is one of those.  It's a cool smallish fish that scoots along the bottom of deep sand patches and has wings that it extends for some reason that only the Gurnard knows.  Well, I finally saw one.  It was in retreat from the onslaught of cameras that had already blinded it before I got there, but I swam hard and almost caught up to him/her/they/them.

But I run ahead of myself.  We had done a first dive at a favorite site along the Pine Trees coast and I was really hoping for a good camera day.  I'd been diving without camera for a week or so just to get reacclimated in Kona waters after a six month absence.  But I was stoked on this day to have my camera ready to record whatever I found, with hopes it would be fruitful...and it was.

The tiny Leaf Scorpionfish usually lives way down in the depths of antler corals, where camera flashes can't reach.  But this lavender tinted two-inch long Leafy was sitting right out sunning itself.  

Then, incredibly, a Sailfin Tang swam into view.  This is another critter that has eluded me for over ten or so years of trying to find one.  Backstory is that, days earlier, I'd been out with my dear friend Sarah B, and one swam right in front of me.  But no camera so no pic.  So when this one, below, darted in front of me I was delighted and got this pic.

Always on the lookout for tiny animals, but almost missed this Trembling Nudibranch until one of our divers pointed it out. It's maybe a centimeter long.  Much bigger was the Whitemouth Eel that I glided over.  Hard to miss that white mouth and big teeth.

As the reef slopes downward to the abyss it us full of nooks and crannies where animals live.  Here is a Flamebacked Coral Shrimp, and just next door I found a couple of Four Spot Butterflies hovering under a ledge.

Back out on the sand we are always looking for Dragon Wrasses and peacock Razor wrassses.  This time I found a Peacock Razor Wrasse flitting about and not being shy. What was being shy was the Redbarred Hawkfish with subdued coloration that I happened upon.  I raised my camera and it shot off its perch (ambush hunter) but I got it a microsecond later.

Back in the arches I always find schools of Blue Stripe Snappers, they're also in the video at the bottom of the post.  On the other side, back on the reef I found a Flowery Flounder sitting on a rock. Perfect camoflage.

So many fish posed for me; here are a Raccoon Butterfly and a Threadfin Butterfly.  Other butterflies, like the Ovals ran away and that's why no pics of them despite the cubic feet of breathing gas I wasted chasing them.

A pretty common fish here is the Orange Band Surgeonfish.  This doesn't stop me from taking more pics of them because i love the coloration. 

Every time I see a school of Raccoon Butterflies I think of my friend Tara P,  an original Diva of the Deep, who can summon hundreds of them to her with a wave of the hand.  I have no such powers, so i had to get these before they scattered.

Always be looking up for big things and down for the tiniest things.  Here is a very common but beautiful Strawberry Nudi.  Much bigger was the Yellow Margin Eel that decided to come out of its hole to greet? me.  neither of us were harmed in the exchange.

This eel is probably the reason this Ewa Fang Blenny was so reticent to come out of its hole.  It couldn't have been because a giant black monster blowing bubbles was bearing down on it.

On the boat before the second dive people asked what I wanted to see.  I said, "I wannna see a Flying Gurnard and a Frogfish."  You already know about the Gurnard, but on the way out over the dropoff where the reef is super healthy we found not one but three Frogfish.  Here they are.

Here's the video from the day.