Maui's Nudibranch Heaven

Imperial Nudibranch

Nudibranchs, colorful sea slugs, can be found around all the Hawaiian islands. But for me it seems that Maui has the best nudi dive spot. Our first night back Heidi and I grabbed some tanks and descended the shallow depths of our favorite nudi haunt, very fitting since it was Halloween. And we were not disappointed, finding 16 different nudibranch species, tons of flatworms, a couple of octopus, and some other beautiful macro sea life.
Gloomy Nudibranch
Jebb's Flatworm
 The waters were clear and calm which is great for photos. The biggest hurdle for my macro photography this dive was the mass of plankton that would swarm around my light. I had to be quick on the trigger or else a cloud of plankton would actually block out the light from my strobe. The cloud would become so thick that I could feel them in my ears and getting into my mouthpiece.

Trembling Nudibranch

 It may have been like a scene out of fear factor but it was all worth it. We found some rare nudibranchs, and some old favorites.
Decorated Nudibranch


Urchin Shrimp
Day Octopus


Marbled Shrimp
Translucent Shrimp


Comments

Post a Comment

Leaving a comment is a great way to provide feedback, ask further questions, and inspire more answers...so go for it.

Popular posts from this blog

Secret Maui Waterfall

Image
  No matter how quick a trip to Maui might be there will be hidden gems found and great times had. After a little snafu with my flight I made it standby to Maui, picked up my rental car, and rushed off to meet my friends on the road to Hana. We met at Frog Pond, one of our favorite swimming holes near the beginning of the road to Hana. After some rock hopping and cliff jumping here we decided to check out the hidden waterfalls at mile 11. I'm not sure what the name of these falls are but there are two of them, each with their own swimming holes. It is just off the highway but separated by lush jungle. A rope swing beckons the adventurous and rocks warmed by the sun give you more than enough reason to while away the afternoon.
Read more

Hidden Ulupalakua Lava Tube, Maui

Image
  High above the crowded beaches of South Maui lies a hidden secret adventure that only those in the know will ever experience. Hidden only a thousand yards or so off a well traveled road around 4,000ft in elevation sits a massive cave which angles slowly down the side of Haleakala volcano. The amazing formations inside and the cave itself were formed by lava, creating an underground tube to transport the lava farther down the slope of the volcano. The same thing can be seen actively happening on the Big Island currently. Luckily this lava tube is all dried up making it much safer to explore. However the loose rocks and obvious cave ins leave some cause for concern.   Part of this adventure is just finding the entrance. This included a dirt road, a jeep trail, jumping an old stone wall, then bushwhacking through dense brush for about tweny-five minutes before finding the lava tube entrance. It was surrounded by ferns, just like the famous Thurston Lava Tube in Volcanoes National
Read more

Search for Chameleons, Maui

Image
  You never know what might be hiding in your backyard. Here on Maui there have always been tales of people finding Jackson's chameleons in their bushes. The trick is to travel a few thousand feet up Haleakala volcano to Makawao, Pukalani and Kula towns where the temperature is a little cooler and it is a bit wetter, perfect conditions for chameleons.   There are no native reptiles on Hawaii. These beautiful chameleons were released or escaped from the pet trade. Luckily they have not become invasive like many other introduced species, however they have increased in population and seem to be doing quite well in the higher elevation areas. Heidi and I went on a search the other day at our friend's house in Kula and were shocked to find a dozen different chameleons in her side yard hedge. They were mostly at eye level, and were curled up asleep for the night. We found them easily enough with flashlights since they seem to sleep near the outer edge of the hedge at night.   W
Read more