Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Something You Don't See Every Day

Last weekend I chanced upon a small Whitetip Reef Shark while diving the north end of Honaunau Bay. That, in itself, is not unusual but what happened after it settled into a small cave was a new sight for me. Two Banded Coral Shrimp started to clean the shark's mouth and teeth with the shark opening wide to allow the cleaning process to proceed unfettered. I've seen these and other shrimp servicing predators like groupers and morays, but never a shark.

 Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

I only got one, blurry and poorly lit photo as all this was occurring far back in a very tight cave. But you can get the general idea of what's going on from the photo below.

Photo Copyright 2012 by Barry Fackler

It seems that no matter how often you dive, the sea always has something new to show you. Have a nice day!

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