Beauty and the Beast… on the Reef

You may be diving along the reef in Hawaii and all of a sudden the reef turns into flashing bright yellow and red colors! What looks like a normal rock on the reef all of a sudden bolts away at 30 miles per hour, then it turns back into a rock right before your eyes!

You may be diving along the reef in Hawaii and all of a sudden the reef turns into flashing bright yellow and red colors! What looks like a normal rock on the reef all of a sudden bolts away at 30 miles per hour, then it turns back into a rock right before your eyes!

What you just saw was a scorpionfish or devilfish (nohu in Hawaiian). These foot long fish look just like a rock and remain motionless until you get very close then they bolt and display their brilliantly colored pectoral fins! They are super hard to get a photo of when they are swimming but easy to take pictures of when they are on the reef.

Just be careful as they have a very poisonous dorsal fin and it is easy to step on one. People should never walk on the live reef as it kills the corals but better yet may cause you to go to the hospital for the day!