6-14-09 Monterey Octopus

[Larry C]

Our last dive weekend, I spent about 10 minutes of our second dive playing with a curious little Red Octopus I found on the chain of Anchor 1 on the deep shale. Here are a couple of shots.

Here are a few more from the previous weekend. These were on Outer Chase Reef near Point Pinos.

China Rockfish

A trio of Hermissendas feeding on the local delicacies

A couple hundred thousand future Hermissendas

One more dive tomorrow in Monterey, then Saturday it's off to Fiji.

 

[ScubaSteve]

That is a tiny octopus. Very COOL. I envy you for that experience Larry. Thanks for sharing.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Nice pix

 

[Larry C]

Thanks Deeper thoughts. Steve, it was actually about fist size, which is a reasonable size for the ones we see around here. A lot of them are quite a bit smaller. They're such clever little critters, they're a blast to watch and especially if you can get one to play with you (generally, I think they're tasting you to see if you're edible).

 

[jenika]

I really like to say that this is very nice marine life photography.I also appreciate from your hard work in the under sea and at the bottom.I really like all the octopus in different shapes and size.They are looking very colourful and nice just because of your fantastic photography.

 

[fuggler]

We still haven't seen an octopus in Monterey. Have fun in Fiji!

 

[Larry C]

I really like to say that this is very nice marine life photography.I also appreciate from your hard work in the under sea and at the bottom.I really like all the octopus in different shapes and size.They are looking very colourful and nice just because of your fantastic photography.

Thanks!!

We still haven't seen an octopus in Monterey. Have fun in Fiji!

They don't want to be seen. The key is learning their habitat and peering into cracks and under rocks. (Look for shells around the edges of holes or large rocks). Night dives are the easiest time to find them. I've heard of people seeing dozens on a night dive in the breakwater, out hunting on the sand.
Amazing to me that this year old post popped up, but we DID have fun in Fiji (wish we were going again this year. Just little trips like Channel Islands this summer.)
It also reminded me of the frustration of the learning curve involved with my new UW camera gear. These pictures were easy with the experience I had using my flawed but comfortable SP-350. The basic fish portraits and small reef scenes I did best with it have been the most difficult with my big fancy DSLR. Seems that everything I have for it is best for extremes. Real small or real wide.