Observations by kimberlylrandal

This juvenile starry night was just sitting out on the sand as we approached... I was able to take a bunch of photos before it went back into its den. Lovely little guy... can't wait for it to have its tell-tale while spots and larger body. For now, the tell-tale sign is the bulbous /odd shape of its mantle.

We watched this nursing mother focus on nothing but chasing / catching salmon for over 3 hours. I have hundreds of shots where she was looking away or otherwise intensely fishing. I don't know why she happened to look up here but wow - talk about timing!

This is one of my favorite shots and from one of my favorite places. We were on the Kona Aggressor in February 2011 and the weather wasn't as good "up north" (by Kona) so the boat headed south. We didn't make it all the way to South Point (of the Big Island) but we cozied into a bay just north of there and ended up hanging out for 3 days. Three amazing days of diving and snorkeling/freediving.

Dolphins generally go into bays during the day to sleep. They sleep half their brain at a time while doing something monotonous like lapping a protected bay. You have to be careful, if they're down for more than 10 minutes you need to give them some space and let them rest. If they're jumping and spinning (this is a spinner dolphin after all) and playing, well, time to jump in and see them in their element! They don't tend (generally) to visit scuba divers because they don't like bubbles. And, generally, they're not going to get all that close but they will occasionally "buzz" you.

So, we were fortunate enough to have had a large pod resting in the bay all three days. I spent a lot of time underwater over those three days often snorkeling between dives. Our girls. who were open water certified on that trip and who were 10 and almost 12, were also loving the interaction and in the water almost as much.

That brings me to this photo. We estimated that there were roughly 120 dolphin in the pod and over the three days we'd lose smaller groups of them to head out hunting. By the third day there were only 13 dolphins in the bay. Katie and I were out snorkeling and all of a sudden the group swam a circle around us... then, one came right over to me and let me get this shot. Then, all 13 of them left the bay. I'd like to think it was saying goodbye and thanks for the fun...

Such wonderful animals; I wish people would experience them this way rather than in a bathtub-sized, chlorine-filled pool. Please #DontBuyATicket

This one might surprise you - as it did me. I remember shooting this little guy and I remember thinking how brilliant it looked against the hard coral it chose for safety. But, I didn't think much of it until later when our fearless trip leader (who holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology) told me how excited he was to have seen a mototi octopus. To which I replied, but I didn't see a bright blue spot. Similar to the blue-ringed octopus, the mototi octopus is known for bright blue spots, but the mototi only has TWO spots: one on each side just beside/below the siphon.

However, they only tend to display those spots when giving a warning to potential predators. Apparently, I wasn't scary enough.