Capturing the Moment

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...

Jolly Green Giant, the holy grail Jolly Green Giant (Ceratosoma sinuatum)   Searching for nudibranchs and other rarely seen creatures has become a passion for Heidi and myself out here in Maui. But up until now we have only been searching 'Nudi Flats', our secret dive sive, during the day. Once we finally decided to explore the place at night it was like a different reef. The major find on the dive and one that we have been searching for since we found out about its existence was the Jolly Green Giant nudibranch ( Ceratosoma sinuatum ). This little guy is considered the holy grail for nudibranch hunters out here in Hawaii, and we finally found one! Up until now we havn't seen these beautiful greens and light blues on any of our nudibranch finds. Heidi joked that now we can stop diving. Three snow goddess nudibranchs Other nudibranchs and flatworm quickly followed. Snow goddess nudibranchs and kangaroos seemed to be perched out on rocky outcroppings, a giant...