Turtle Town: Beyond the Turtles


Saddleback Butterfly Fish
Hundreds of snorkelers kick over the coral reef at Five Graves, a.k.a. Turtle Town every day here in Maui. It is an amazing place to see turtles and lots of other popular reef fish. But almost none of these people will get a chance to see what is hiding down in the reef, camouflaging in, and lurking in the cracks and crevices. That was our mission as we donned scuba gear and headed in with my macro lens. And as always, Turtle Town did not disappoint.
Longfin Anthias
    Rare and timid Saddleback Butterflyfish perused the reef in tandem. They are one of the rarer butterflyfish species seen here in Maui and I had never been able to snap a good picture before as they are notoriously skittish. Moray eels stared out from cracks in the reef, baring their teeth and looking quite menacing. I have the utmost respect for their hunting abilities after watching a fish disappear before my eyes into a striking moray eel's mouth. Even so, I sometimes do get a bit close with my camera acting as a shield. Every once in a while an eel pokes its head out a little farther to check out the eel looking back at it in the reflection of the lens.

Baby Frogfish
Eye of the Octo
 A big day octopus hid away from all the eels but not my camera on this dive. I was quite impressed when I looked down to change to my camera settings, looked up and couldn't find the octopus again. Vanished into thin air.
  But the big find of the dive were two baby frogfish and a longfin anthias. Check out the pictures to see just how cute these fish can be.


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