High As the Pie in an Octopus' Eye

    With an eye on the surf conditions, both current and impending, we went swimming yesterday at Kahalu'u.  The Stormsurf wave predictor said that it would be rough today, so it made sense to swim yesterday.  As I looked down from our lanai this morning, the sea was like glass.  So much for Stormsurf.  As it turned out, though, yesterday was a pretty good day to go snorkeling.  

   We got to Kahalu'u in the mid-morning.  The bay was just a bit bumpy and there were plenty of snorkelers coming and going through the narrow entrance.  The reef teachers were in their moment of glory, giving instructions to the tourists who are now here in increasing numbers. 

The Day Octopus looks back at us through his slit iris.

  I had been swimming for only a few minutes when I passed over a small octopus working his way
into a crevice in the rocky reef.  This fellow was brick red and didn't change color for the ten minutes that we kept an eye on one another.  I took several pictures of this guy.  He was harboring in a small crease in the rock, so he was unable to get any further away from me without breaking cover and swimming to a new spot.  I had a great view of his eyes and at least one arm that lay in front of his body.  I gradually worked my way in with sequential pictures and one movie.  I would show you the movie, which is of fair quality, but the only movement involved is me shifting position by virtue of the current; the octopus is holding perfectly still , sort of defying the purpose of a moving picture. Finally I closed to within three feet away and took the flash picture you see here.  It certainly gives you a great look at his eye and the arm in front.  

   Isn't it interesting that while an ungulate, like a cow or sheep has a rectangular iris and a predator like a wolf has a round iris, the octopus seems to make do with a slit.  Teleological thinkers propose that in sheep,, that rectangular iris permits them to better see predators.  Who can say how it works for this amazing cephalopod that is clearly a predator. 

Tiger Cowry, Cyprea tigris.  Kahalu'u December 2020

  Our friends at wikipedia tell us that the slit in the octopus eye always remains horizontal.  If you become disoriented and don't know which way is up, you can always take a clue from the eye of a nearby octopus!

    Mr. Octopus had withstood all my ministrations, so he received a nice song praising him as the incarnation of the Holy ghost.

    Another five minutes yielded this nice cowry.  This is almost certainly a tiger cowry, Cyprea tigris.   Mike Severns in Hawaiian Seashells, shows a dark cowry with a base of dark, rich caramel on top which float dark chocolate spots.  If one only had that photograph he might be hard pressed to identify this handsome cowry.  John Hoover shows two tigers side by side, one similar to Mike's and the other much lighter, still with the dark spots.  The cowry you see here was much lighter than either of Hoover's pair.

   John tells us that in the good old days,  larger tiger cowries were found in Hawaii. This individual was about 120 mm, which is about as large as Severns states that they get.   Apparently in the past they ranged up to six inches, a good 10% larger.  That would be as big as mature honeydew melon.  A month or two ago our friend Hai had honeydew melons growing in his garden by the Kawaihae Surf Park.

Old Mr. Blue Eyes, The Elegant Hermit Crab, Kahalu'u December 2020

  Next time we are up there I will have to bring along my calipers and find out if Hai's melons are as big as John Hoover's Tiger cowries.

    Hoover notes that these cowries are seen frequently because they are too large to hide effectively.

    Well, that made for two nice invertebrates, so different from one another yet both molluscs. I headed towards the Rescue Shelter, hoping to find a Christmas wrasse or two on the reef where the surf pounds in.  As you know, if you have been shopping lately, its almost Christmas, the day when we search for the eponymous wrasse.  Before I made it all the way across the bay I spotted a large triton shell attempting to look inconspicuous in a coral depression.  Well, good luck with that when Captain Hermit is on the prowl.  I flipped over the triton and in short order a large Elegant Hermit Crab made his presence  known. We had found a shallow depression that shielded my quarry from the current and got several nice pictures of the hermit before he flipped himself back.  Some day I would like to take a movie of such a handsome hermit emerging and then making the long reach to flip himself.  On this

2020 has been a Grinch of a year.  2021 will be better!

daythere was just too much current to hold the camera still/.  Never the less, this is nice picture showing the long antennae which are used as feelers and the central, club-like antennulae which are used for taste.   

   Back ashore the Reef Teachers were happy to look at my pictures.  With any luck the next time we are at K Bay they will be wearing Santa hats and there will be Christmas Wrasses galore.

Jeff