The other day at Mahukona I spotted this dwarf moray peeking out at me from under a rock, about eight feet deep. The first few times I dove down for a photo it retreated back out of sight. I finally had to wait down there for almost a minute—pretty close to my maximum bottom time—until the eel’s curiosity got the best of it and it poked its head back out to see if I was still there. A couple of minutes later it swam out into the open and quickly disappeared under a larger rock.
These eels only get about twelve inches long. According to Hoover, they’re fairly common, but are seldom seen due to their secretive habits. I see one at Mahukona maybe three or four times a year, but this is the fist time I’ve managed to get a photo.
onebreathkohala 