We were supposed to be well on our way the the Marshall Islands by now, but we came down with colds the day before we were to leave. Being sick underway seemed like a bad idea so we quarantined ourselves out at Falefatu for a few more days.
K had a birthday on Friday and spent a few minutes in a hammock between two palms.
But 40+ years and a cold couldn’t keep him down when there were foragables overhead. Luckily he packed 40 ft of old spectra in the beachbag.
Coconut snacks are fun for a few minutes, but then it was back to the reef for a Fishquest Falefatu encore.
There were a few primary targets. K had been stalking these Papuan Tobies for several days. Perhaps a little obsessively, according to S.
They usually come in sets of two, one small and one large.
A cold may keep the manfish near the surface, but that’s okay because that’s where the good light is – not to mention the needlefish.
Hours of scouring the shallows along tidal streams of clear ocean water paid off with a few surprises. Like a large moray getting dusted off by a red lipped cleaner wrasse.
and a huge peacock grouper caught napping just above his lair.
This Charlie Brown fish (really a juvenile bicolor parrotfish) has been on the wish list for days.
Some are common but so nervous that you have to surprise them to get a picture.
Others sit for portraits like old friends.
The rest are just busy doing fishy things in a hurry.
and then there are sea cucumbers. Maybe not so picturesque, but they’re the most cooperative subjects on the reef.
Royal angel! Very cool.