boat diving | Garden Isle Divers

August 28, 2018April 12, 2019

What? I Don’t See It

A few years ago there was an ad campaign that ran in several national level magazines.

image of a US Navy Seals recruiting ad — Navy Recruiting Ad

The ad was designed to promote recruitment to the US Navy Seals. It had a picture of a swamp and a caption underneath that said “Pictured from left to right . . .” I’m guessing that there really were soldiers hidden in the picture but the only thing I know for sure is I never could see them.

I think of that ad when I consider the unique characteristics of a Commersons Frogfish. Like a special forces soldier, the frogfish is aggressive and fearsome. Unlike a special forces soldier, though, only fish need to fear a frogfish.

The Waikiki Aquarium says on its frogfish page that “The frogfish is superbly adapted for its habit of ambushing prey.” The article explains some of the adaptations which make that statement true. First, the fish’s head is mostly mouth which enables it to swallow other fish as large as itself. Second, the fish’s small gill openings are tucked away behind the pectoral fins so that exhaled water will not reveal the fish’s presence to potential prey. Third, and this is the part that reminds me of the Navy recruiting ad, is that frogfish are so good at camouflage that they can be difficult to distinguish from the section of reef they are situated upon. They sometimes even have real algae growing on their skin!

image of a frogfish — Yellow Commersons Frogfish

When we scuba dive Kauai, we have the opportunity to view a number of creatures that are skilled at camouflage but frogfishes are among the most specialized of ambush predators; their camouflage is so effective that biologists call it “aggressive mimicry”.

As members of the same family as the deep sea Anglerfish, frogfish have a special spine that they can use as a sort of “fishing pole” to lure in a potential meal that needs to get just a little bit closer to be food. When an unlucky creature gets to within about the distance of the frogfish’s body length, the frogfish will open its cavernous mouth so quickly that the rapid suction will draw the prey into its mouth. This whole process takes place in just six to ten thousandths of a second, making this one of the fastest capture mechanisms in the animal kingdom.

We have several resident frogfish living at Koloa Landing – one of Kauai’s best dives. It is a virtual certainty that we pass by at least one of them on any given dive tour. The trick is to actually see one. For your best chance at coming face to face with a frogfish while scuba diving Kauai, book a tour with Garden Isle Divers today!

March 19, 2018April 12, 2019

I Wanna See More of Those!

For as long as I’ve been a diver, I’ve been particularly excited to get to see a nudibranch. The first part of the name ‘nudibranch’ does mean “naked” but that has nothing to do with why they’re exciting to see!

The word “nudibranch” comes from Latin; “Nudi” means ‘naked’ and “branch” is ‘gills’. So, we are talking about an animal that, in most cases, has gills external to its body. Obviously, this is not normal animal kingdom type stuff!

image of a Gold Lace Nudibranch — Gold Lace Nudibranch

In the image of the Gold Lace nudibranch, notice the feathery looking stuff near the lower part of the body – those are gills. To put this in a totally inappropriate perspective, our president spends a lot of time talking out his tail while some nudibranchs spend their lives breathing through theirs. Does this mean they’d be good candidates for vice-president?

According to the World Registry of Marine Species there are currently at least 2,300 species of nudibranch that can be found throughout seas worldwide. While the greatest diversity can be seen on shallow tropical reefs, some have been discovered at depths exceeding 8,000 feet.

Now let’s get to the part about why I’m particularly excited when I get to see a nudibranch. As it says on Wikipedia “This group includes some of the most colorful creatures on earth.” As I say “These things are awesome!” It’s this colorful nature that makes them so fun to see. To put it simply, many are just plain spectacular.

If you’ve read some of my other posts then you might be starting to figure out that I’m pretty much a total nerd.

image of Orange Cup Coral — Orange Cup Coral

One sign of that fact is that I think it’s super cool how nudibranchs have a variety of ways to defend themselves. Since they are just slugs and couldn’t hope to outrun or outmaneuver larger predators, they’ve developed a variety of passive defenses instead. Some individuals have developed coloration patterns that mimic their primary food source. If the Cup Coral nudibranch was hanging

image of a Cup Coral Nudibranch — Cup Coral Nudibranch

around inside the Orange Cup Coral would you see it?

Other nudibranchs go the exact opposite route and have such intensely bright and contrasting color patterns that you couldn’t possibly miss seeing them. In these cases the bright colors are believed to signal to predators that the creature is either poisonous or intensely distasteful.

image of a Varicose Phyllidia — Varicose Phyllidia

And then, there are some – like the Blue Dragon – that can take stinging cells (nematocysts) from the animals they eat.

image of a Blue Dragon Nudibranch — Blue Dragon Nudibranch

This type of nudibranch is capable of eating these nematocysts and relocating them, through their digestive organs, along their bodies where they will then provide a defensive system for the nudibranch.

All of this is in sharp contrast to a creature like me who has primarily relied on an obnoxious personality and sarcasm as a form of keeping potential threats at a distance. In actual practice, this plan frequently backfires and actually creates enemies that didn’t previously exist. Again, our president. . .

I could go on listing interesting nudibranch facts but I think I’ll just post a few more pictures of some of the one’s we see while scuba diving on Kauai instead.

November 25, 2017April 12, 2019

Only In Hawaii

Does the word “endemic” mean anything to you? To the few people who recognize that word the general understanding is “native to an area”. That would be correct but it goes a bit further.

image of a potters angelfish — Potters Angelfish

John P. Hoover is the author of the most popular (for good reason) fish and sea creature identification books that cover Hawaiian marine life. They are found on every dive boat and most of the snorkel boats throughout Hawaii. The way he explains what endemic means is “The occurrence of unique species in a limited geographical area is called ‘endemism’.” (Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, vii) So, it means native to, and only found in, a particular area.

image of a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse — Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

Because of Hawaii’s isolated nature, there are few places in the world that have a comparable percentage of endemic species. Science Daily says “Previous studies, based on scuba surveys in water less than 100 feet, determined that on average 21 percent of coral reef fish species in Hawaii are unique to the Hawaiian Archipelago.” In other words, one out of every four or five species that we see while diving here are not found in other areas of the world. That is a surprising number. Even more incredible though “in waters 100 to 300 feet deep, nearly 50 percent of the fish scientists observed over a two-year period… were unique to Hawaii, a level higher than any other marine ecosystem in the world.”

As if that isn’t enough, there is even a special type of endemic species known as a relict. In most cases, biologists can point to fish found in other parts of the world and declare them to be the ancestral species of an endemic. In a few cases, though, there is no known ancestral species because the ancestral line is now extinct. The Bandit Angelfish, which is common on Kauai, is one such example.

image of a Bandit Angelfish — Bandit Angelfish

You say you want to do something truly special, something that will make your Hawaiian vacation unforgettable? Come scuba dive with us! We guarantee that you will see things you can’t see anywhere else in the world.

November 21, 2017March 11, 2024

Save Yourself – Go Dive!

I dive here on Kauai with a lot of people who are new to scuba. Many of the same questions get asked, including the inevitable “What about sharks?” My standard answer is “Let’s cross our fingers and hope we get to see one today.”

image of a white tip reef shark

The real motivation behind a question like that is the same as with several of the other standard questions: Is it safe to scuba dive? Yes! In fact, not only is it safe, it is safer to be diving than to not be diving!!! Let me explain.

According to National Geographic, over 17,000 people die from falls each year. That’s a 1 in 218 chance over your lifetime, compared to a 1 in 4,332,817 (updated March, 2024) chance of being killed by a shark. It is a scientific fact that you cannot fall while exploring underwater.

Nat Geo also reports that in 1996, toilets injured 43,000 Americans. Sharks injured 13. There are two noteworthy things about that statistic. First is that sharks injured – not killed – only 13 people that year. Second is that it is clearly more dangerous to poop than to swim in the ocean. Ask yourself, have I ever been afraid to poop? If the answer is yes then please don’t call Garden Isle Divers because you have issues that we don’t want to be a part of.

Not convinced yet? Okay, I just hope you aren’t sitting under a coconut palm reading this because Falling coconuts cause about 150 deaths annually. You might think “Wow, somebody needs to get those coconuts out of the trees before they fall and kill somebody.” Sure, except for the fact that falls from ladders cause about 355 deaths annually in the U.S.

image showing common injury rates compared to shark attacks

As you can clearly see, your best chance at living a long and adventurous life is to go scuba diving on a regular basis. You avoid so many of the true dangers that life likes to throw at us. So, let’s go explore Kauai’s coral reefs together while your friends, who give in to irrational fears, get bit by Malaria-carrying mosquitoes which kill about 800,000 people every year.

October 22, 2017April 12, 2019

Turtles Rule!

I have yet to meet the person who is not excited for a chance to come face to face with a Green Sea Turtle. The day I do, I will probably run for my life because there’s something seriously wrong with that guy.

Let’s be real – how can you not just love such a magnificent creature? Of all the cool and crazy creatures we are privileged to see, the turtle is easily the most graceful and alluring.

image of a Sea Turtle — Green Sea Turtle

Turtles are popular enough that most people know at least one or two basic facts. For example, you probably already know that sea turtles create a nest on the beach and then lay eggs. But, did you know that each nest averages about 115 eggs? With that many eggs, perhaps one day sea turtle populations worldwide will be able to recover to the point that turtles will no longer be listed as an endangered, or even protected, species.

In spite of the large number of eggs produced by a female sea turtle, populations worldwide are showing an overall declining trend. The exception is Hawaii where the green turtle population is actually increasing in abundance and has increased 53% over the last 25 years. This increasing population is most visible here on Kauai due to the fact that the bulk of the nesting population is found among the uninhabited islands to the north. As the northern population increases, turtles migrate south with Kauai being their first good chance for a new home.

image of a green sea turtle — A Friendly Green Turtle

Years ago I read that turtles continue to grow throughout their lives. So, the larger a turtle is, the older it is. Marine scientists don’t know how long turtles live but believe it to be up to 80 years. Whatever the true lifespan is, it must be a long time since it is typical for adults to weigh about 300 to 400 pounds! Some can be as heavy as 440 pounds and the largest green turtle ever found was 5 feet in length and 871 pounds!!!

Come scuba diving on Kauai with Garden Isle Divers and we will take you to a place where you can have your own personal face to face encounter with sea turtles.