89

Anyone who knows me would likely be able to tell you that Octopus are by far my favorite animals in the ocean. I was a bit disappointed on this trip to Bonaire because this was the only Octopus I saw out in the open all week long. I found an Octopus hiding in his hole on the first day and throughout the week it was a cat and mouse game between us as I tried to catch him out in the open. Octopus are generally nocturnal hunters so several nights I'd stake out his hole hoping to catch him as he left to go hunt. I knew there was little chance of him coming out with me anywhere in the vicinity but I had to try. One morning I woke up before the sun came up and swam out there and he was gone so I waited around for him to return...no luck (He was back in his hole later that afternoon laughing at me). Oh well, one thing I found out after all of this was that I can sit and hover motionless in 15 feet of water watching a little hole for a very long time. Anyway this is the only action shot I was able to get and it didn't last long (different octopus at a different site than what I was talking about before). I love how this particular octopus looks like slime crawling around on the coral. Then they turn their body into a gelatinous net as they devour their prey. This octopus was camera shy and was gone literally as soon as I found him. I couldn't find the octopus at all after he disappeared. One of the reasons these things are so cool...

bonaire, octopus, hunting, camouflage, ink, caribbean, cephalopod,