Saw my first Blue Ringed Octopus this weekend...

[jagfish]

I knew they were around Izu and other divers in our groups have occasionally seen them, but this is the first time for me in the 7 years diving here...

Unfortunately, due to his location positioned in some rocks, I was not able to get a good focus on him for photo, but did manage some video.

His behavior was quite different from other Octos, who once they realize they've been see scurry into a hold and pull a shell over top...Once it became clear that we were not going anywhere, he began putting on a display of colors, swim patterns and posturing to make it absolutely clear,"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS...Hello!"

He was half the size of my fist, but had heaps of attitude. I especially liked when he was flashing his body Yellow to accentuate the blue rings...

I've got a bit of video with him near the end of this short weekend video...

YouTube - Osezaki - Nov 13&14 2010



Here is a great link I just found on Blue Ringed Octos:
Blue Ringed Octopus Facts and Underwater Photos|Underwater Photography Guide

I didn't know, they actually produce two kinds of venom...one for hunting, one for self defense...

 

[karastal]

That's so awesome!! We have them down here too but I've not seen one yet either. I had a friend see 2 on one dive, pfft.

 

[TSandM]

That's a pretty spectacular animal. I hope I get to see one some day!

 

[bs63366]

I guess that I will have to try to get down to Osezaki sometime soon to try to find him. Hopefully I will have a newly certified diver after this week to bring with me.

 

[jagfish]

I was able to capture a still from the video I took...it's the best frame of the bunch...but still not very good...

 

[super7]

Well, the resolution might not be as high as you wanted it to be, but the blue rings seem to flare out from the screen!

 

[karastal]

That's still a really good pic.

 

[jagfish]

Thanks! I wish I had taken more shots and video footage, but we were on the way to 30m...