Humuhumunukunukuapua’a (or reef triggerfish) shows me who’s the ocean boss in just 10 seconds.  Well, boss over this section of a reef in Maui at any rate.  After 10 seconds I decided to leave him in peace to guard his territory.

An eternity, perhaps not quite, but that’s my perception of time when thinking back to my Hawaiian excursion in mid-June.  And finishing up a home movie chronicling our adventure, complete with contemporary Island music from the likes IZ for instance, just gets me in the mood for some white sandy beaches and clear salty waters.  So why not share a few things I came across while swimming over the reefs of Maui.

Obviously such a post lends itself infinity as the amount of pictures and video I have is substantial… notice I did not mention anything about quality.  But with that said, using a digital underwater camera is  a goldmine for someone who needs to cull through the blurs to find a few gems. 

Of course I need to start the ball rolling with a Hawaiian green sea turtle.  It is by far my wife’s favorite marine creature and I am always left in awe at the range of colors found on their carapace.  By the way, did you see our Hawaiian green sea turtle video footage?  And even in today’s world of rampant conservation information,  I was left in shock to discover people clamoring to touch and harass this amazing species (And yes members of our party spoke up immediately to inform the culprits and end their activities). I guess that’s why we need to continue spreading the word.

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

A juvenile yellowtail coris (Coris gaimard), which is the first one I have run across in Hawaii

A raccoon butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula)

A Slate or Red pencil urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus) and a black sea urchin (Echinothrix diadema)

A cushion seastar (Culcita novaeguineae)

Whitemouth moray eel (Gymnothorax meleagris)

An Arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus)

The Hawaiian Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) and a female bird wrasse (Gomphosus varius)

I left for Maui on Saturday morning so by now I should be well into exploring the reefs, capturing pictures and video, and perhaps indulging in a few tropical beverages.  Hopefully I’ll return with some worthy ocean anecdotes and photos to share with the masses.

My last trip to Maui was during the humpback whale season and was truly an unforgettable experience .  From the beaches I watched whales leap into the air and crush the surface of the ocean water while exuding a  colossal splash.  And upon closer inspection of their activities through the Pacific Whale Foundation, I was left in awe by the power of their lungs expunging air through their blow holes.

But, the most relaxing part of the trip was doing the dead man’s float in perpetuity with a snorkel and listening to the humpback whale songs that filled the waters of the shallow reef.

Although I am away, keep checking back as I have scheduled a new post for each day of the week.

Photo credit: Whit Welles Wwelles14