Image of Maori octopus

Description:

This little wheke was lurking under a ledge and sitting on a rock in the shallow subtidal zone and was first spotted when @rongoa was standing on rocks out of the water and by a pool that I was going to hop into. After popping up to see what was happening (first photo) and realising that it was only the local Nature Watchers, this wheke just laxed out and we have never seen one so lax as they are usually tucked away tightly. After taking a few photos front on, I slipped into the deep pool to see if I could get side shots and even though one eye opened to see what I was up to he didn't move, quite content to stay laxed out.(Photo 5) He even allowed me to put my camera about 250mm away and didn't even bother to touch it, as others have done in the past (and I have never been able to get the camera that close to one before). After about 20 minutes he decided to call it quits and slipped back (last photo). Photographed in situ. This wheke was not touched or harmed in any way by the photo shoot.