Capturing the Moment

Caloria indica (Indian Nudibranch) Unidentified Flatworm    Sea slugs, lobsters, crabs, shrimp, flatworms, and weird creatures galore can be found just off the beach here in Maui. And you don't even have to go to a beautiful coral reef to find them. In fact I think you will see even more if you go to a muck diving site like this one where all of these and more can be found on one dive. We never really know what to expect when we go muck diving here. There are almost always surprises. On this night the surge from the south swells had finally died down which meant we only had to deal with the clouds of plankton that would swarm your light if you stayed in one place for too long. This does make taking pictures very difficult as you have to get a good picture on the first or second try or else the plankton move in and ruin the shot. Guard Crab Baby slipper lobster, about 3inches Looking inside coral for creatures like this little guard crab can lead to great find...

Red Spotted Nudibranch Dwarf Moray Eel What a dive! In a place where people go for big things like sea turtles and white tip reef sharks, we found a treasure trove of the small and overlooked creatures of the reef. Carefully picking our way over the reef provided a rare opportunity to see creatures like nudibranchs, dwarf morays, and cleaner shrimp. Mating Tom Smith Nudibranchs! The tiniest frogfish  One of the most fascinating events we witnessed on this dive was mating nudibranchs. Two Tom Smith nudibranchs were very close to each other, head to tail on their right side, with the reproductive gland extended and touching. It was easy to miss but Heidi's sharp eye and constant research into the behavior of nudibranchs allowed her to know exactly what was going on. I could hear her thru the water yelling, "They're mating, they're mating!" Grumpy little frogfish Wire coral goby  As I slowly set pictures up from different angles and settin...

 Turtles, moray eels, massive schools of fish, and nudibranchs galore describe this Maui dive site but unfortunately I have to keep the name and location secret because of another creature I have found here....harlequin shrimp. These flower-like pint size shrimp are so prized in private salt water aquariums that if their location leaks out to the wrong ears they will be collected and shipped around the world to most likely die in some aquarium.   Now don't get me wrong, aquariums can be an incredible window into the underwater world. They can inspire people to want to learn more about the ocean and even to become ocean stewards themselves. I know many a marine biologist that began their love affair with the ocean at aquariums or sea world during their youth. But when people pay any amount of money to get the rarest and most endangered animals and we stop seeing them out in the wild is when it gets a little depressing. Animals like harlequin shrimp, dragon moray eels, and fl...

 These Harlequin Shrimp, (Hymenocera picta) are something I had been searching for ever since seeing a picture of them on the cover of our Hawaiian invertebrate book. They are so beautiful and quite rare. It has taken me well over 40 dives to find them out here in Hawaii.   Unfortunately they are heavily collected for the aquarium trade and the Hawaiian ones are more highly prized being rarer than the Indo and African varieties. Once encountered they can often be spotted around the same location for months or even years. But just so these two are caught up and captured for some salt water aquarium I will keep their location confidential.   They feed on the tube feet of echinoderms like sea stars. And if you look closely you can see that this pair has found and is feasting on a sea star. They start at the tip of an arm and slowly move in. They can feed on one star for up to a week. However some sea stars have been seen to escape by detaching the arm being fed on and le...

At the end of the road past Kihei, Wailea, and even Makena you get to an impassable lava field. This lava flow is less than 1000 years old and it still very barren. While the rugged, uneven terrain stops all vehicles and most travelers, some people persist and step foot onto the ancient 'King's Highway.' This is an old coastal path that led completely around the island. Legend has it that warriors would patrol the coastline day and night to make sure they were never surprised by a war party from a neighboring island. Some people claim to see the spirits of these warriors still this day. These ghost-warriors are commonly called 'the Night Marchers.' It wasn't the night marchers that made me caution my spur of the moment decision to take this adventurous hike...it was the fact that I was wearing little rubber sandals! If you take a close look at the picture of the actual trail you can see how uneven the loose lava rock is that you tread upon, not to menti...