Sun Rays and Nudibranchs

 The beauty of the underwater world is enough to make me want to go under again and again. These pictures are from an early morning dive at Wailea Point, Maui when the sun rays are coming in at just the right angle for photos. The reef here has alot of relief topography which added alot to the sunburst shots. These big pillars are also the best place to look for nudibranchs and other treasures of the reef. While searching for these sea slugs I happened upon some nudibranch eggs. They looked like a red velvety rose and when I peeked through the 'petals' I found a tiny egg eating nudibranch having a feast. He is too small for me to get a good picture of but you can see the spec right in front of my thumb in the picture.

The many overhangs and caverns here also provide hiding places for many of the rarer finds. This swimming crab on the right was courting another crab which I didn't see until the last second. And Heidi found this beautiful gold-lace nudibranch which always reminds me of Christmas lights that it must have swallowed.