June 28th, 2009

Nai'a Bay, and Kaloko Canyon. The swell is going down so we could get into Kaloko, yay! Lots of cool critters and 3 firsts for Nikki today! 3! All at Kaloko. 1st was a Sherif Badge Sea Star... it looks just like you'd think. 2nd, a Decorator Crab. It had the most fanciful hat! He was a tiny little guy that collects bits of this and that to disguise himself. This guy had a hydriod on top of his collection that looked like a feather in his cap. We found him on the rubble bottom drifting around at the mercy of the surge. 3rd, we found a Psydellic Wrasse in the middle of it's change between female and male. It was with a few other females. It had the spots of the female but the orange head of the male. I was stoked!! Other highlights: We found two Viper Moray Eels sharing a home. At Nai'a Bay: Spent about 15 minutes with Manta Rays getting cleaned by Cleaner Wrasses, got a manicure by the Scarlet Lady Cleaner Shrimp, the white Frog Fish was still hanging around (still don't know what species it is), Corn Kernel Nudibranchs, Hellers Barracuda getting cleaned on the reef... and more. Awesome Day!