Capturing the Moment

Two Ornate Ghost Pipefish  When I talked to my dive guide at Malapascua about finding rare small underwater creatures he told me about two nearby places; Calanggaman Island and Gato Island. Calanggaman, he said, is a long sand bar dotted with coconut palm trees that drops steeply off into the abyss. Gato on the other hand, was described as a solid rock topped with jungle surrounded by nudibranchs and sea snakes. I immediately added both destinations to our dive plans during my stay in Malapascua. First on the list was a two dive day trip to Calanggaman Island. Denise's pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) Can You Find the Sea Horse?  I was already impressed by J.N., our local dive guide and creature finder by his skill in spotting wildlife on our first few local dives. When we dropped over the underwater cliff edge on the outskirts of Calanggaman, J.N.'s critter vision went into overdrive. He found pygmy sea horses no bigger than your pinky finger nail. Ornate gh...

Avoiding obstacles at Honolua Digging in the rail   Fresh off a month long adventure in Indonesia it was time to get back to work in Maui. The Humpback whales are migrating down from Alaska and big winter storms are pushing down pulses of great surf along Maui's north shore. Juvenile Kangaroo Nudibranch White Margin Nudibranch   Also during the winter we get periods of calm from our usual trade winds. All of this adds up to some great surfing, some great diving, and lots of good photo opportunities!   A good friend Ryan Shamburger was out for a visit which prompted a visit to the fabled surf break of Honolua Bay. Located way up on the northwest shore of Maui I seldom get here just because of the long drive. But when I do it can be world class. These top two photos were taken there by Heidi Miller. The first pretty far off at the middle break and the second just below at the cave. Slender Tail Moray Then came the diving. Heidi and I were able to ...

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...