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.
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