Easy Sunday

Green moray eelWe slept in, after a hard week of partying with Mike. haha We didn’t get mobile until nearly noon. It was another day with very calm winds, and lots of sunshine. We took to the water at Boca Catalina and just puttered around. The water was so calm again, and the fish were all relaxed.

HighhatI went to a spot where we normally can find a Queen Triggerfish, and instead we found a rather large green moray making himself at home! I had quite the surprise to dive down to take a picture of a highhat and have the menacing jaws and about two feet of a green moray pop out from under a ledge, weaving back and forth, as if to protect his space! He was certainly a big one, in the six to seven feet length in total.

Octopus Today though, was octopus and squid day – seemed every few feet we saw one or the other. We saw a group of squid that was easily the largest group we’ve ever seen. It went on as far as the eye could see! And visibility was great!

Spotting octopus is not easy. They can blend in so amazingly well, it’s easy to simply swim right over them. Sometimes they look so much like coral, you can’t tell the difference, unless they move. Check out the picture of him: you can hardly tell he’s there, unless you look very closely right near where his tentacles are attached to the rock.

I’ve got two movies to show today featuring the same octopus. He was really active, hopping from rock to rock, cycling through colors, and just amazing us.

This next video could have been a thing of beauty, but it’s certainly worth watching even though it’s not perfect. It shows him virtually hidden, then when I zoom in on him, he’s goes a deep black, with yellow “feet,”  hops off a rock, hops onto another, walking a little, then compressing himself into a tiny hole!

Sgt. majors, Malmok BeachThis picture is especially for Mike… all these Sgt Majors kept coming around, and we’re certain they were upset you never said “See you next year!” Seemed like there were more than ever today.

Goldentail Moray eel Pam has been experimenting with different modes on her new camera, an Olympus Tough. We’ve had them in the past, and really liked them. We got her an expensive Nikon last year, but the pictures just never turned out very well. It’s funny, sometimes paying more doesn’t necessarily get you better results. Check out this picture of a gold moray eel, you can literally see the flecks of gold dappling his body. A prize winning shot!

Sunset, December 16The sunset picture is taken from the balcony of our unit at La Cabana. We’re on the fourth floor, the top floor, the penthouse as Pam calls it. We sat on the balcony having a drink, getting a little sun, watching it drop into the ocean. Some sailboats came by as it was going down… very nice. I’m adding a little movie of some sailboats drifting past the setting sun. You can hear the music in the background – a live band in the poolside bar of La Cabana.