The Octopus’ Garden

I’m often amazed at the array of sea life we can see from our “front porch.” Kevin and I stroll the docks several times each day just to peer into the water and see what’s there.

There are always the usual suspects: grouper, barracuda, parrotfish, conch, needlefish, fry, and boxfish, to name just a few. Some of them actually live there full-time. Of these, my favorite is a large barracuda that I’ve named Barry. He’s almost always around the boats in the early mornings, and I make it a point to stroll by to check on him before I head to the office for work.

Here’s a photo our friend Jeff took of Barry while he was here.

And then there are times when we see something new. I’ve already posted about the glowing fish we saw a few months ago. While Jeff was here, we saw a sea horse, and we saw moray eels cruise by the restaurant almost every night. Here’s a photo Jeff took of the back half of one. I call all of them Murray.

Last night, Kevin spotted an octopus. Here’s a short video of him as he wanders around right in front of the restaurant dock. Big thanks to Kevin, who deftly handled the flashlight to serve as lighting technician, to make this one possible.

We were pretty entranced by this guy. The way he contracts and expands the web of his legs was beautiful, graceful, and, well, just pretty dang cool. If you look closely, you can also see a jellyfish cruise by in the lower-right corner.