In Sight Of The Holy Grail

The Holy Grail and the Loch Ness Monster – just two of the things that spring to mind that have driven individuals to distraction and despair in the hunt for a myth. Boston born Robert Harvey Rines spent  a lifetime hunting for “Nessie”.  His work led him to side scanning radar that helped find the Bismark and Titanic. But he never found the monster.

Blue ring octopus and KBR: I have become a butt of  KBR dive guide jokes for never seeing a blue-ring octopus. So many times guests have come back and taunted, yes, taunted me that THEY have just seen a blue ring. I never did. For me, blue rings were the Loch Ness Monster. The Holy Grail. The search for the indefinable. Yes, I have seen pictures in books. But do they really exist?

Well my friends, Robert Harvey Rines can eat his heart out. Yesterday at Critter Hunt I saw one. Cute little fella, slightly pink, darting about – and blue, blue rings! YEEEEEHAAAAA. And, even better, I got a pic – several actually. So, KBR colleagues, pick on something else to taunt me with. I’ve seen a Blue-Ring

Gotta say though – you don’t get too damn close to these little guys. If you read what I had to say about them some weeks ago, they can kill a human with a mere glance – well , yes, that’s a slight exaggeration. But a bite will almost certainly lead to a rather unpleasant death. Go on, you know you want to check out what Wikipedia has to say for Nasty Deaths: Blue-Ring Octopus.

So that’s it: Blue-Ring Octopus ticked off.

Holy Grail anyone?

Blue-ring Octopus pouts for the camera