Diving Adventures

Every dive is an adventure – an opportunity to see the creatures who become like familiar friends as you watch them eat and swim and rest. Sometimes I have fun looking closely at their eyes and decorative colors. Other times, I like to watch how their fins move or they stab at what they eat. For me, diving is also a game – can you find a new fish you have not seen before? Can you find a camouflaged one hiding in the sand or reef? Will you be looking in the right direction when a large creature – a ray or shark or even a whale – swims by? I have fun identifying new fish in the fish books or online and truly geek out over how some change from juvenile to adult.

Here are some photos and videos — though not many of actual fish. You can look at previous diving posts:

Whale and Dolphin Under Water

Turtle Playing with Leaf

Dive Photos including Night Dive

Amazing Octopus

Diving on the Big Island

Fish in Transition

Here is a dragon wrasse — a juvenile rock moving wrasse. It is about 1-2 inches long.

As an adult, it is known as a rock moving wrasse. Here is a photo. I like the distinctive markings on its face. The adult can be as big as 10 inches

Here is a video of the rock moving wrasse — makes it easy to see how it got its name.

And then every now and then, you see one in transition with some of the shape and markings of the adult and some of the juvenile.

Another type that makes a fun transition is the Yellowtail Coris wrasse. The juvenile is about about 3 or 4 inches and is orange-red with white spots outlined in black.

The adult can be10-12 inches, has a shimmering blue body and yellow tail. This is a female.

And the ones in transition have the front of the juvenile and the back of the adult.

Well Camouflaged

Lizard fish:

Leaf Scorpion

Scorpion Fish

Peacock Flounder

Frog Fish

Note that the frog fish also changes a lot. Here is a juvenile which is only an inch or two long:

Big Creatures

Shark

Manta Ray

Eagle Ray

Nudibranchs

Nudibranchs, affectionately referred to as nudis, are essentially sea slugs. Mostly only a few inches, though some can be bigger. Some like the egg nudi. Otheres are more rare.