Capturing the Moment

Trembling Nudibranch Tom Smith's Nudibranch  Some dives here in Maui we get lucky enough to see animals like frogfish, nudibranchs, sharks, octopus, and eels. Today at Makena Landing we saw all of these and more in one dive! Nudibranchs and flatworms started off the dive before we came across the most beautiful pink juvenile frogfish. It had its lure out trying to catch the interest of a passing fish. If you have never seen a frogfish eat then check out some videos on youtube. They move so fast that if you blink you might miss it. A rare sighting of a longfin anthias came next. This beautiful yellow fish has purple flecks around the eyes and is usually spotted at depths over 70ft deep. We have seen this one here in about 15ft several times over the last few months. She must be feeling pretty lonely. Head on view of a whitetip reef shark Juvenile Dragon Wrasses (Rockmover Wrasse) Hawaiian Day Octopus  I was busy trying to photograph these fast moving dra...

Saddleback Butterfly Fish Hundreds of snorkelers kick over the coral reef at Five Graves, a.k.a. Turtle Town every day here in Maui. It is an amazing place to see turtles and lots of other popular reef fish. But almost none of these people will get a chance to see what is hiding down in the reef, camouflaging in, and lurking in the cracks and crevices. That was our mission as we donned scuba gear and headed in with my macro lens. And as always, Turtle Town did not disappoint. Longfin Anthias     Rare and timid Saddleback Butterflyfish perused the reef in tandem. They are one of the rarer butterflyfish species seen here in Maui and I had never been able to snap a good picture before as they are notoriously skittish. Moray eels stared out from cracks in the reef, baring their teeth and looking quite menacing. I have the utmost respect for their hunting abilities after watching a fish disappear before my eyes into a striking moray eel's mouth. Even so, I sometimes...