Hammerhead, turkey, 3 white tips, and a pod'o'dolphins!

[VBlueV]

great "sunny" day for diving!

me and bcyber launched out of hickam marina on the "Sunny Dee"..
as soon as we passed the pearl harbor outer buoys..
a pod'o'dolphins started bow riding..
and the sun broke out from behind some clouds.. awesome!

first dive on the seamount..
we were greeted by a gi-normous hammerhead!
here's a link to the video..
Video of Hammerhead_SeaMount - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

she actually did 2 very close passes on us..
beautiful magnificent animal!

then bcyber found a "hawaiian (thanksgiving) turkey"?

are those spikes really poisonous?

second dive was over on THE diner..
where we found 3 large white tips under a ledge..
they actually let us get very close.. before dave scared 'em away..

and of course a plethora of eels..

and don't forget the sponge crab!

 

[KrisB]

I'm pretty sure that's actually a Haw. Green Lionfish... keep hunting for your Thanksgiving bird!

 

[Bredman]

Very nice Hammer!

I'm having trouble estimating depth that you found him in...good light penetration but its still blued out.

How deep was it?

 

[deeper thoughts]

Very nice

 

[VBlueV]

I'm pretty sure that's actually a Haw. Green Lionfish... keep hunting for your Thanksgiving bird!

thanks for clarification..
lol.. yes.. wishful I.D.ing for the Holidays

probably a different sub-species of hawaiian lionfish?
the one in my photos has red dorsals and tail..

also.. i've seen a "green" lionfish..
in koolina's lagoon 2.. in 12fsw (snorkel/free-diving)..
and it was very much an avocado striped green..
wasn't any bigger than most of the leaf-scorpions around here..
but with the exact body style and full barbs of its much larger lionfish cousins.
and i've swam with large (cabbage sized) lionfish at diego garcia in the indian ocean..
also very beautiful.. tho' i was actually getting too close to 'em..
until a buddy reminded me.. their barbs could kill me in minutes :shocked2:

 

[VBlueV]

Very nice Hammer!

I'm having trouble estimating depth that you found him in...good light penetration but its still blued out.

How deep was it?

thanks.. watching the vid again.. its tail was huge!

yep.. as stated.. the sun broke out just before our dive..
we also had 70+ viz.. so the light was getting there easily..

also.. we were at 70 fsw when i shot the video..
(the top of the seamount is at 50 fsw.. then slopes down to over 200 fsw.
i've been to 203 fsw.. and it kept going at least another 50 feet..
btw.. that was a very sunny day too.. with 100+ viz..
and it was suprisingly bright at 203fsw too.. no lights needed)

 

[KrisB]

thanks for clarification..
lol.. yes.. wishful I.D.ing for the Holidays

probably a different sub-species of hawaiian lionfish?
the one in my photos has red dorsals and tail..

also.. i've seen a "green" lionfish..
in koolina's lagoon 2.. in 12fsw (snorkel/free-diving)..
and it was very much an avocado striped green..
wasn't any bigger than most of the leaf-scorpions around here..
but with the exact body style and full barbs of its much larger lionfish cousins.
and i've swam with large (cabbage sized) lionfish at diego garcia in the indian ocean..
also very beautiful.. tho' i was actually getting too close to 'em..
until a buddy reminded me.. their barbs could kill me in minutes :shocked2:

It could just be slightly different colouring.

The turkeyfish that I've seen are different in that they're white and reddish, but the BIG difference is that the spines of their fins aren't all connected -- they are at the base, but on a small specimen (i.e. 4" in length), the 1.5-2" at the end are just the spine.

 

[lonniehammack]

JJ, Awesome video of the Hammerhead and pics. Yes, a Green Lionfish -- give away, besides fused pectoral fins is red ring around eyes. Dave and I found three of those near The Diner in one antler coral a few weeks ago. Might be the same antler coral since it also had a sponge crab in it. It's amazing how much life those antler coral hold. I've never seen a Hawaiian Turkeyfish, but I saw a lot of Turkeyfish in Guam that looked identical. Collectors wiped out local species. Lonnie

 

[scottitheduck]

Ouch! I sit down to check the board and what do I see but JJ's Hammerhead Video...... I am just slightly jealous as I'm approaching 2500 dives here in Hawaii and still haven't seen one.

We did however spot some whale spouts about a half mile out while gearing up at E beach today, our first of the year. You know that means winter is officially here!

Happy Diving,

G

 

[ChimChim75]

Wow... Thanks for sharing!