Another kind of Hawaiian eel we don't see often....

Thought I'd post a pic I took back in '99 or so with my MX-10 underwater camera. This is a Magnificent Snake Eel (Myrichthys magnificus). We don't see them very often at all, when we do it's a thrill for even the dive leaders. Every now and then you'll run into divers who swear they saw a sea snake, once they describe it it usually turns out to be this. According to the Hoover's book (linked on the right side of the blog), the Hawaiian name for this fish means "stick", "pole" or - children and bashful folk cover your eyes - "male erection". Now I never would have thought of using that description for this fish.

It's still pretty busy despite being the "slow" season. It's starting to get darker earlier so I'm having to change my plans for the afternoon/night manta trips. I'm still trying to set up the night dives on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the reality is, if I go more often I end up going with 2 passengers every night and wear Bob and I out and barely cover expenses, grouping it up gives a shot at some better profits for the evening), but I'm open to other evenings to groups of 4-6 passengers if my schedule allows. Basically, I'll run either day or night, but not both like I do in the spring and summer, since I won't rush the day trips there just isn't enough time available between charters with the shorter days to run both day and nights. The manta dive is still hopping right now, hopefully it'll keep up throughout the fall.

Aloha,

Steve