^^Hang loose duuuuude
I was lucky enough to spend some time on the gorgeous island of Kauai in November. This was a non-diving trip, but I did get to snorkel a few times. I wasn’t expecting to see so many turtles! This cutie was a sub-adult and hung around me for a while, getting so close I had to move away a couple times.
During my snorkels, I found a Hawaiian nudibranch! If you know me IRL, you know that nudibranchs are one of my favorite sea creatures, because of their incredible diversity and gorgeous colors. If you have not encountered nudibranchs before, they are commonly known as sea slugs, which is a sort of ugly name for critters that come in such amazing colors and shapes. It’s as if Dr. Seuss designed them. This one is called a Plakobranchus oscellatus. He has a bit of sand and flotsam on his back:
A crazy fact I learned while in Hawaii: 25% of the species there are endemic to Hawaii. Meaning I got to find some cool critters I’ve not seen before, and now I must go back and dive it! There were so many gorgeous butterflyfish, like this Ornate Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ornatissimus):
And this Bluestriped Butterflyfish (Chaetodon fremblii):
More lovely butterflyfish, and other cool things, are shown in the gallery below:
