Blowing Bubbles at the Big Island
	Just me and a few aquatic buds hanging out on the reef. Thanks to underwater photographer extraordinaire Ken Kurtis! All images copyrighted.
Two really BIG mantas narrowly (and gracefully) avoiding a collision This manta's name is "Lefty", due to his damaged left cephalic lobe. This gives you an idea of how close, and how huge, the mantas are. Like a 747 lining up on the lights of the runway. No, I didn't touch her. You're not supposed to touch. This is "Big Bertha", by the way. "Lefty" again. I'm guessing 12-13 feet wingtip to wingtip. Arc-eye hawkfish sittin' on his coral head. Chevron tang. This is actually a juvenile fish; as adults they lose their psychedelic markings. Hawaiian flame angel - very shy and hard to photograph, probably due to overcollecting for home aquaria. Longnose (forceps) butterfly fish. Is this just a blob of yellow sponge? No - it's a small frogfish! The little guy was kind enough to actually contrast with his background enough to be seen. While on the Manta dive, we encountered a hungry moray eel out hunting. These little cleaner shrimp will sometimes climb into your mouth and clean your teeth, if you let 'em. Goldring surgeonfish cruising. Anybody remember the Coneheads on SNL? Hmmm. Dating myself again... Examining a cushion star for the tiny symbiotic shrimp who call it home. A gorgeous tiger cowry cruising the coral head; we tucked him safely away from shell hunters after his closeup. Hangin' out in the blue, giving the OK to the buddy. Moorish Idol. This is still my favorite reef fish. Sooo beeyooteeful! A curious octopus just couldn't resist oozing out of his hole to check us out. You wanted nudie shots, here's one: Phyllidia coelestis - a nudibranch. Its pictures like this that make us realize how OBESE the AOP puffers are. Reticulated butterfly at about 100 ft. Gotta go deep to see 'em but they're worth it. Teardrop butterfly pair - note the beige parasite on the pectoral fin of the smaller fish. Tiger moray. Don't often see these shy guys. We looked for a dragon moray but never saw one. Tinker's butterfly at 100 ft. Striking markings. One of many green turtles getting cleaned at Turtle Pinnacle. The Pinnacle is like a sea turtle car wash. They're unafraid and let divers come very close. Oh, yeah -- we saw a few of these yellow tangs too.