Ken Bondy - 10-31-2009 at 02:44 PM
Earlier this week I did my "monthly" dive in Morro Bay. I saw the usual critters, but I had a very unusual encounter with two of them. These are not
the best images I have ever made of these two species, but the encounter was so unusual I can't resist sharing it.
I found a small octopus peeking out at me from a broken horseneck clam shell:
After a while he came out and spurted a few feet away, posing for me and constantly changing colors and shapes to confuse me:
He moved a few times, not very far, but on one of those moves he landed right next to a large one-spot fringehead blenny. The octopus is in the lower
right of the frame, the blenny WAY out of his lair above:
I maneuvered carefully out in front of the strange bedfellows for a frontal shot:
And fired off one final right profile shot before the octopus split for good:
All this was witnessed by a smiling crab:
elgatoloco - 10-31-2009 at 02:51 PM
Great shots! 
David K - 10-31-2009 at 02:58 PM
Ken, you are the master! 
bajajudy - 10-31-2009 at 03:08 PM
Spectacular, as usual!
Skipjack Joe - 10-31-2009 at 03:22 PM
This crab has a mohawk!
Bob H - 10-31-2009 at 03:29 PM
Ken, that was just amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Bob H
Bajahowodd - 10-31-2009 at 03:46 PM
Very cool. It was probably more usual for those critters than for you!
Mulegena - 10-31-2009 at 04:03 PM
I didn't know you were still diving!
These pictures are so great. Thanks!
Next time you're in Mulege be sure to hook up with Mick. I'd love to tag along with you on a dive, either in Baja or Alta.
Natalie Ann - 10-31-2009 at 05:23 PM
Cute cute little octopus, Ken.
And a great face shot of that crab, who appears rather fierce. He rivals many of the Halloween masks I expect to see this evening.
Thanks for posting these shots, amigo. I've missed going diving with you.
nena
Sallysouth - 10-31-2009 at 10:40 PM
And once again, the master of illusional images shares with US, the Nomads!! So awesome Ken!I have No idea how you can capture those tiny creatures
like you do.Love the smiling crab....
24baja - 11-1-2009 at 01:04 AM
Fabulous photos! thanks Ken...
Russ - 11-1-2009 at 04:19 AM
Ken, I always look forward to your postings. Especially the spectacular marine life photos. I understand the time underwater it takes to even notice
these special moments. As a teen going to school on Catalina Isl. I spend hours checking out the changes at some of my favorite sites around the
schools' little bay. That was all free diving so I didn't get the perspective you've gained underwater. Your the man!
Cypress - 11-1-2009 at 06:31 AM
Ken Bondy, Thanks.
shari - 11-1-2009 at 07:42 AM
what a fun sequence brother! fantastic...now if we could all just get along like those guys eh!
Scuba in Asuncion
Mulegena - 11-1-2009 at 09:02 AM
Not to hijack Ken's thread, but I gotta say that the New Year's dives Mick and I enjoyed at Shari's Bahia Asuncion was some of the best Baja dives
I've enjoyed!
Cold in winter? Oh yeah, but the water clarity was fantastic! Sun shining down through the kelp beds onto the sandy floor. The Seamount was a total
gas! Very pretty seafans swaying in the gentle current, lots of color, and the fun part-- we were joined by 5 very friendly sealion who swooped around
us as we slowly swam around and up the seamount!
Diving is just a great way to see how the other 3/4s of the world lives.
Thanks again for the beautiful pictures of species inter-action, Ken.
Your closeups are totally awesome!
Ken Bondy - 11-1-2009 at 09:44 AM
Thanks to all of you. I get such an ego boost from your comments!!
@Igor - a mohawk AND a moustache 
@shari - right on sis! But I think if one of them was a lot bigger than the other they might not be getting along so well
@ Mulegena - no hijack there, right on point!!!
Thanks again, really appreciate the comments especially since these were not exactly taken in Baja .
++Ken++
Iflyfish - 11-1-2009 at 11:59 AM
Amazing photos Ken. Stunning in fact!
I have a question about the one with the orange star fish leg in the lower left corner. Maybe I didn't understand the explanation. I find that image
fascinating.
I see three sets of eyeballs in the photo. It looks like something is consuming a fish above the eye of the octopus. Or is that a false eye on the
fish?? Amazing photo.
Iflyfish
Ken Bondy - 11-1-2009 at 12:28 PM
Thanks Iflyfish! That third image, the one with the starfish leg in the lower left, has the top of the octopus in the lower right part of the frame.
Directly above the octopus is a rather large fringehead blenny coming out of his lair. The left gill cover of the fringehead is directly above the
right eye "hump" of the octopus. The fringehead, which has about half of his body showing, blends in with the background which might be what is
confusing. The blue spot with the yellow border (near the top of the frame towards the right) is on the front of the fringehead's dorsal fin (I
believe it does function as a false eye).
[Edited on 11-1-2009 by Ken Bondy]
Ken Bondy - 11-1-2009 at 01:04 PM
Iflyfish - here's another shot from the same series. Here the fringehead is directly above the octopus but retracted a bit back into his lair so you
can't see the dorsal spot. You also see a little more of the octopus in this photo. To the best of my knowledge there are only two eyeballs visible
in this photo, the left of each animal :
[Edited on 11-1-2009 by Ken Bondy]