I made a new friend today.
Merry and I tried to dive the barge this morning but kayak fisherman had arrived very early in the morning. We headed to Golf Ball Reef instead. The surface water was an ugly brown. I was hoping it would only be a few feet thick, but it blocked out what little light we would have had on the bottom. Visibility was pretty nice at about twenty feet, but you couldn't see it without a bright light. It was darker than many night dives I've made. That may explain why I found some red octopuses foraging the reef. One, in particular, seemed to like me.

I watched as it popped out of his den and approached my camera. I backed away, but it continued toward me. I stopped and let it inspect my camera housing for a moment before it climbed atop a rock and began posing for me. It turned from green to brown to red and back to green again. It allowed me to move around and take shots from all sides. After about five minutes, I said goodbye and looked for other subjects.

Another octopus next to our anchor not only changed colors but shapes as well. It would have been a good dive for video. The water temperature was a balmy 52° on the reef. I'll wear my thicker bunny suit next time.

Berthella chacei with a hitchhiker.

• Re: My Octopus Creature seahunt 20:05:06 05/15/23 (0)