Capturing the Moment

Saddleback Butterflyfish Slate pencil urchin    Diving at Makena Landing here on Maui is one of the easiest shore entries on the island. A calm, protected sandy beach lets you wade out until you are all geared up and ready to go. Usually I bypass this easy entrance for a quicker but more dangerous drop off the lava rocks but we had reports of baby frogfish on the Makena Landing side so that is where we headed. We swam by a shark and a few turtles while listening to humpback whales singing in the distance, but we were on a mission to find the elusive frogfish. With a little bit of searching and a great find from our friend Dav, we actually found two! Both frogfish were adults, about the size of a small dinner plate. They have amazing camouflage and I am sure we swam by a few that we didn't see. I have gotten to the point where I can search for their eyes which can give away their location. Their body shape and fins are another clue. Luckily they trust their camou...

An Ornate Octopus on the hunt  Wow. Check out the reef at night and have a totally different experience. Tonight we saw a squid that can fit in your pocket, a poisonous octopus with 2ft long arms on the hunt, and the holy grail of nudibranchs all in one dive.   Checking out one of our favorite muck diving areas at night provided a treasure trove of picture opportunities. This ornate octopus to the left hunted for small fish and crustaceans by spreading out its arms into all the nooks and crannies of the rocks. After about ten minutes of following him he stopped, brought all his arms under him, quickly dug a hole by shooting water straight down in the sand, then totally disappeared under the sand. Incredible. a tiny  Hawaiian bobtail squid about the cutest creature ever, bobtail squid Juvenile Milletseed Butterflyfish watch where you put your hand! The next big find was actually a tiny one, this Hawaiian bobtail squid. It is hard not to put this litt...