More reef shots at Airport Beach with Olympus 1030 Stylus:

Flounder above blending in....

HawksBill feeding in shallows above.

Found a Triton Trumpet under a ledge:

This beautiful animal is a predator of the Crown of Thorns starfish which can unfortunately destroy a reef if it becomes too plentiful and goes unchecked. Apparently the Triton Trumpets have been removed to a dangerous extent because of their beauty. I came back the next day and swam down and looked under the ledge where I had found and returned this animal to the day before. Well hidden from the surface and out of daylight, there it was. Without the flash on the Olympus 1030, the pic would not have been possible:

In future visits, I will be checking on this animal to see if it remains in the proximity of this ledge.

...... Well the triton is no longer in the area and rumor has it, one was seen being taken from the beach by a spear fisherman.

Today, 7-24-08, I came across a conch that someone had obviously pulled up out of the sand and it was left upsidedown. I brought it up close to the surface for a photo op and then returned it to the sand:

This Hawaiian "Pu" conch was not there a half hour later and I suspect it was removed from the reef for its beautiful shell.

Some juvenile Damselfish:

They appear to stake a claim on a coral head and can be seen at the same spot, day after day.

The hawksbill was over on a different part of the reef today:

The good looking Green Sea Turtle above has a problem. It has a solid wire leader with hook(s) stuck in its rear flipper. The leader still has a sinker and swivel attached and I believe from a quick view that there may be one loose hook dangling adjacent to the one actually stuck in the flipper.

You can see the leader and gear here in the sand. I came back the next day with good Felco wire cutters on the outside chance that I would see her again. No such luck.

I did spot the familiar Hawksbill and she got a mouth full of some soft animal that was hidden under the coral. Before I could get down and try to get a shot of the animal, she took a second bite and little was left outside her mouth beyond a cloud of soft tissue and "parts" drifting away:

Although unlikely that I could have got a split world shot of her on the surface with the Olympus 1030, I waited for a while in case she did surface because the surface shot itself would have been a nice backdrop for her:

A Crown of Thorns was on the move and I attempted a shot under one of its arms:

Another Crown of Thorns encountered. This one looked like it was in the process of stripping a small coral head of its life:

The well camoflaged beast above is also present in the photo below ( lower right corner: underside of left pectoral fin has orange showing and the fish is seen from the back)

Late in the afternoon after a pleasant snorkel, Alice and I were about to leave the beach when she noticed something splash out in the water down the beach a good ways. After watching for a while, it became clear that there was a pod of spinner dolphins out there. They were working their way up the beach towards us and some were coming in within 50 yards of the shore. It looked like I could get out there and probably swim with some of them. The sun was low on the horizon and further dampened by some clouds but I was able to get a few shots with the Olympus anyway. I spent more time just swimming among the dolphin and enjoying their antics. Adults would come in close to me and distract me from the babies when they were near. None the less, I did get one shot from a distance of a calf swimming along side its mother:

Below is another shot of a sub adult with parent at its side:

The cornetfish below had some how jammed its snout into the coral a couple inches and was stuck! It was upside down and wiggling as I came upon it. I had to grab its snout with both hands and wiggle and pull to get it free. It swam off but not in good form and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't survive.