Fuzz's diving picture bonanza... now with more riboflavin!

Great pictures!!! Thanks for sharing them.

Hey Fuzz - did any of your pics ever get published???? I'd look into that if I were you Imagine working for National Geographic as a wild life photographer! That would be the coolest job in the world  (besides dancing on a table with your speedos on...while women throw money at you )

How were you able to get that photo?

Um... the seal was trying to mate with my fin...   

Hey Fuzz - did any of your pics ever get published????

Nope, my pics aren't refined enough.  I like taking photos, but I'm a spearo first & have a hard time putting down the speargun to pick up the camera.  Last baja trip, I brought 3 underwater cameras.  None touched the water.   


Next batch:



Tiger shark, keeping it's distance


Tiger shark, no longer keeping it's distance...


Pebbled butterfly fish


Sea urchin (Wana)


Olive rockfish with something in it's nose

Wow.   Those shark photos are awesome.  I can just picture myself thinking, "make my day."  Followed by "I need a bigger gun!" then, "and more barrels!"

the shark pic is unreal  I heard Tigers sharks in Hawaii are easily spotted within a mile offshore  But at least the water is clear enought to spot them from a far.

How long did the shark stick around? Or did it follow you the whole time?

awesome pics!!!

always amazing how dark a seal's eyes are. 

the shark pic is unreal  I heard Tigers sharks in Hawaii are easily spotted within a mile offshore  But at least the water is clear enought to spot them from a far.

How long did the shark stick around? Or did it follow you the whole time?

Exactly.  I'm not so scared of sharks I can see.  It's the ones I can't see that worry me... 

Once it found me, the shark wouldn't leave.  I even got out of the water & paddled about half a mile away, but it followed me.  It wasn't agressive, but quite persistent. I had to jab it away a bunch of times & at one point I had my spearpoint in it's mouth as it was coming head-on. Not wanting to lose my shaft, didn't shoot and just pushed him to the side.  It gnawed at my rudder, tasted my paddle, & even tried to bite my kayak - slowly, seemingly more of out of curiosity. It kept looking at me like it wanted to nibble on me too. 

Since I couldn't shoot anything with it circling me the whole time, I took out my camera instead.  In the end, it was a fun day of diving even if my spearing time was cut short.  Here's what I got in the first hour before the shark showed up.  Nothing special, but tasty 

That would be the coolest job in the world  (besides dancing on a table with your speedos on...while women throw money at you )

Yeah but they would follow up with "put your clothes back on..." after throwing the money at him.

ouch...feelings are hurt...

do you eat those parrot fish?

Yeah but they would follow up with "put your clothes back on..." after throwing the money at him.

 sonofa...    


 

I'd be doubling my revenue - paid to take it off & paid to put it back on 

do you eat those parrot fish?

Yes we do.  While protected in Florida, the parrotfish(hawaiian name: uhu) is a highly sought & deeply-rooted cultural food fish for hawaii.  When prepared properly, it's delicious!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-45%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=uhu+recipe

I seen the mexican boats come in with the blue ones (males?). But they eat almost anything that swims.
So I wrote it off at the time. plus they don't bite on much.

didn't know they were protected in florida. that's interesting. I wonder why? too easy to kill? a pod would
come into my boat slip in the florida keys almost every evening.

what about those black ones with the teeth? what are those? 

thanks for filling us suburban white punks in on the hawaiian traditions. 

J

I seen the mexican boats come in with the blue ones (males?). But they eat almost anything that swims.
So I wrote it off at the time. plus they don't bite on much.

didn't know they were protected in florida. that's interesting. I wonder why? too easy to kill? a pod would
come into my boat slip in the florida keys almost every evening.

what about those black ones with the teeth? what are those? 

They eat coral, so hard to catch on hook/line.  I have caught a few using crab/starfish for bait, but it's slow & frustrating trying to fish for them since they live among coral outcroppings & will quickly tangle up your line.

Not sure why they're protected in Florida, but they're lumped together with ornamental fish for some reason.  http://myfwc.com/marine/spearing.htm 
They're not protected because they're too easy to kill... believe me.  It's the other way around in Florida - they're easy to kill because they're protected.

The black ones with teeth are peacock groupers(local name is Roi).  They're an introduced species & are both very agressive as well as prolific.  They're a known carrier of ciguateria, but the area I was diving was a relatively safe area.  As an introduced species that is troublesome, I do my part in trying to cull them... luckily they're delicious too 

Bring on the photos!