Macro Critters Galore at Five Caves, Maui

  This morning I grabbed my macro setup to try and find some small underwater wildlife to photograph. Sometimes when you slow down and really look it can be amazing how many little creatures start showing up. I went to a dive site called five caves, aka five graves. It is a spot very famous for sea turtle encounters which means these little animals get passed over even more often than most.

  Nudibranchs, harlequin shrimp, scorpion fish, and even peacock flounders showed themselves on this dive. It wasn't until I saw a couple of neon yellow juvenile frogfish that I knew who was going to steal the show. Surrounded by a cloud of tiny plankton the frogfish would open its mouth and gobble up some of the goodies.

  These are Commerson's frogfish and will grow to about the size of a volleyball if they get old enough. Right now they could easily fit into the palm of my hand. Once they get bigger they will graduate from eating plankton to eating fish. They are one of the only known predators to lionfish anywhere in the world.

Some animals were out and about on the dive but a few were peeking from the shadows like this dwarf moray eel. I stopped to photograph a nudibranch and glanced over to my delight to see this eel poking its head out. I also thought this baby yellow-tail coris hiding behind this sea urchin with his little white spotted toby friend was pretty cute.

Hawkfish Mug Shot

Rosy Phyllidia

Red Spotted Nudibranch