Bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana)

Date taken: August 8, 2013 at 9:06pm
Dive site: Garden Eel Cove, Kona, Hawaii

While these are fairly common, this particular squid was anything but common. I remember this dive incredibly well as it was a night of strange but wonderful encounters. In addition to a spectacular Manta Night Dive in Garden Eel Cove (which is also known as Manta Heaven), I personally met "Frank the Friendly Moray" (who cuddled into my BC) and then we had encounter with this squid that was anything but common.

Paul's public video on facebook (with Frank in my BC) is here.

But, it's the squid encounter that is as remarkable if not more so. This particular squid allowed us to slowly move our hand up underneath it - finally touching it; it was incredibly soft. We could feel the "jets" pushing water down / around its lateral fins but it never swam away. I have photos of it under my husband's hand and he has video of me with it too. We ended up finally swimming away from it after 16 minutes (my photos range covers 16 mins from start to finish). It was late and it had been a long day. I logged 324 minutes (almost 5.5 hours) of bottom time that day and this night dive was just shy of 81 minutes. I have dives here and there that I remember but this ranks up there for so many reasons (the manta madness, Frank, this squid); this was truly one of the most incredible dives I've ever had!! And, by far, it's still one of the best "critter interactions" of my dive-life!

My iNaturalist observation: 5184370
Wikipedia: Bigfin_reef_squid