Finding Dory & Whale Symphony

“It is so interesting how, when you dive in a place long enough, you see that different types of fish actually stay put in specific areas… You would think, it's the ocean, they move around! Yet they don’t!” - First conversation with Jeff, owner of Kona Honu divers and a gentle giant. 

Bula vinaka everyone! 

We welcome to the NAI’A family 13 members of the Kona Honu dive center over in Hawaii (most live all around the states and actually met each other for first time on this vacation); plus 3 individual divers with spunk; Peter from UK, Mascha from Netherlands, and Robert from California!

Dory could talk whale right? (Maybe that's why so many whales singing on this trip)

Long nose hawkfish ~ Brian

Two wire (whip?) coral shrimps ~ Brian

Night time: giant cuttlefish, squid, shrimps, crabs, and arrowhead crabs. 

NOT our photo but gives an idea of the wonderful encounter with the cuttlefish

Decorated crab ~ Pippa

“You really downplayed the night dives; it was amazing!” - Peter, who in all fairness, is always enthusiastic about everything. 

Huge crab on the night dive ~ Brian

Sea krait looming over the poor ribbon eels: “Don’t you dare eat them!” - Chris

Shot by Jim on an earlier charter ~ banded sea krait for the story

Schools and schools of barracudas circling around us, from Jim’s to Nigali; from big eyed and yellow tailed (smaller versions) to sawtooth barracudas (bigger). 

Feisty and dancing (twitching really) grey sharks as well as huge barreling Spanish mackerel. 

A humongous puffer fish was just strolling through the channel avoiding both sharks and divers with its disproportionate fins. 

Lemon peel angelfish that drove Pippa and Tom Craaaazy ~ Pippa

Tom got to add Lori's anthias to his collection of fish photos and Pippa now has a comical blenny and a Fiji clown blenny. Meanwhile Peter and Mascha were fascinated by the magenta anthias, which seem such a dark blue underwater!

Juvenile parrotfish ~ Brian

The biggest and first Giant trevally came to say hi to us at Jungle Jig; beautiful huge fish! Its sides are full of scars, as they are known to ram into structures to stun fish around for better hunting. 

SUCH an amazing day at Wakaya, despite the rainy day, underwater was gorgeous!

Humpback breaching near the shore! Unfortunately not everyone saw it but still!

Photo by Mascha ~ Chris with melanistic manta

So many mantas just giving us a show: 

We had big beat up Johnny; beautiful and elegant Mantanomi; adorable and cute Mickey Manta; timid and evasive Django; pretty Clarita; big m a s s i v e Dorothy; Mr. Snoot came tumbling through spinning and twirling, and one beautiful unknown immaculate female. 

Shot of Mickey Manta with Clau in the background ~ PIppa

Shot by Brian of an Fijian endemic anemonefish

During our trip, a level 8.8 earthquake hit Russia and Alaska, sending not only Fiji in Tsunami warning but also Hawaii; we were a bit tense waiting for the imminent waves to hit Kona Honu, where Jeff, Pippa and Tom live. 

We took the precautions necessary that IF we were hit by the waves, we would be in deep ocean. 

Fortunately for everyone involved, we had no severe consequences from the event and our hearts go out to those who have suffered more severely from this earthquake and tsunami. 

Juvenile box fish ~ Brian

Namena cured everyone that was a bit down and under the weather and we had our first full boat for beautiful Kansas and Schoolhouse! 

Coincidentally it was also our sunniest day and least windy! All in all, terribly marvelous! 

Crinoid squat lobster ~ Pippa

Such calm and relaxing wall dives yet so fishy: schools of different barracudas, snappers, unicorn fish and surgeonfish, schools of cornet fish, big eyed trevally, so many oceanic triggerfish, all sizes and levels of interest from rainbow runners, and schooling bannerfish. 

Decorated dart fish; square spotted anthias; dragonets; pipefish; nudibranchs such as flabellina and double ringed flabellina; Dory (palette surgeonfish); Pontoh’s pygmy sea horse; grey reef sharks; pick handle barracudas; mantis shrimps; R2D2 shrimps and all the other cleaners. 

NOT our photo, but as Pippa stated: I can't get that little bugger in focus! ~ Decorated dartfish

Green leafy scorpionfish ~ Brian

Double ringed flabellina ~ PIppa

The much desired to see Dory: so many of them on different bommies, not only at Dory’s home; juveniles and grown adults. 

That was a number 1 request on the second day at Namena, with everyone ready to rock and roll underwater! 

Pippa ~ Solander's Tpby (aka spotted)

Porcelain crabs ~ Pippa

Soap fish ~ Pippa

A massive eagle ray swooped in to inspect the first group at Grand Central. 

Most importantly: 5 foot sized baby grey reef sharks!!!! SO CUTE!

So… theories. Becky brought up the fact that all 5 sharkies were the same size, little 1 foot, yet do female grey sharks give birth to so many pups at once? Could more than one mother give birth at the same time more or less? Help

“That was gorgeous! You can’t find hard corals like these anywhere!”- Peter

“Immaculate hard corals!”- Julene

Sea Mounts can’t cease to amaze! 

Such a lovely lazy hawksbill turtle chilling on the outer E6 reef. 

“So many nudis!”- Pippa; nudibranch lover (after Cathedral)

Sea spider ~ Brian

The whole time at sea mounts, we could hear whales singing in the distance.

And again in Vatu-i-Ra; beautiful yet longing sounds. 

Pippa's favorite flatworm of the trip ~obsessed 

Lemon Coral Goby ~ Pippa, spotted by Jeff!

Furry hermit crab at night time ~ Pippa

Back in that area it was all about blue dragon search, turtle encounters and color color color! 

“THAT was a wide angle dive!”- Tom (coming out from GoMo) 

“This dive was so intense! So much to see, so much color!” - Robert (after mellow yellow)

Even more whale singing during the night dive at Alacrity & morning pilot whales singing at Vuya!

But where are all of you? The sound is still mesmerizing. 

Vinaka vakalevu everyone!

Hope to "sea" you real soon!