Fun Dive with Frogfish and Turtles: Maui

Frogfish Camouflage

  I've been so busy the last week and a half working my new gig as expedition leader on the Un-Cruise Hawaii itinerary that I have just now gotten around to going through some of my last dive photos from my week in Maui. I took my friend Jackie out for a stellar dive at one of my favorite spots, 5 Graves, off the South Maui coastline.

   I was pretty shocked that I didn't find any nudibranchs, usually it is a hotspot for those marine treasures, but we lucked out with two great frogfish sightings. It was funny watching Jackie shake her head, telling me she doesn't see what I am point at, until the last second when she separates the camouflaging frogfish from its environment. We see frogfish in all colors and sizes here in Hawaii, but these two were particularly beautiful. Since they trust their camouflaging ability so much they let me get very close in for a couple of good shots.

   The rest of the dive we focused on the charismatic megafauna that frequent the area, Hawaiian green sea turtles. We saw close to a dozen different turtles. Most of the turtles were dozing in underwater caves found in the lava rock underbelly of this dive site, but some were out hanging at the surface and swimming around on the hunt for algae. One turtle seemed to be determined to swim at it's own slow pace so I had Jackie swim next to it while snapping a couple of quick photos before letting it head off to an unknown destination.

Jackie and her green sea turtle

Is she trying to high five the turtle?