My first dive of 2013 and I find one of my favorite rare creatures, harlequin shrimp! These little, brightly colored shrimp live in pairs and have some of the most striking colors of any reef animal. If I would have seen nothing else on the dive this one sighting would have made it for me still. I have snorkeled and dove at this location many times but have never seen, or even heard of this shrimp being here. Of course now I have to keep the location secret treasure hunters (aquarium collectors) don't rush off and snap up this pair of shrimp.
Underneath an overhang I found these orange cup corals. Right now they were all tucked in but at night that will emerge to feed, like little anemones catching passing by plankton. My sea slug search turned up a few phyllidias like this black and white colored varicose phyllidia.
Several fish species posed for the camera as well. This tiny wire coral goby was easy to miss while the orange and blue Potter's angelfish was flashy but never stopped moving. The black sided hawkfish thought its camouflage would hide it from my camera. Hopefully there will be many more dives like this one in the coming year.
Underneath an overhang I found these orange cup corals. Right now they were all tucked in but at night that will emerge to feed, like little anemones catching passing by plankton. My sea slug search turned up a few phyllidias like this black and white colored varicose phyllidia. 
Several fish species posed for the camera as well. This tiny wire coral goby was easy to miss while the orange and blue Potter's angelfish was flashy but never stopped moving. The black sided hawkfish thought its camouflage would hide it from my camera. Hopefully there will be many more dives like this one in the coming year.
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