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Ornate Butterflyfish on Reef
Story behind the shot
An Ornate Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ornatissimus), photographed in the Holoholaki Beach Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. In the middle of a giant patch of sand bottom, we stumbled on a tiny bit of reef with a pair gorgeous Ornate Butterflyfish darting around it. These fish are very shy and kept swimming behind the reef to hide, but every few minutes would peer over the edge of the reef, probably to see if I had left. I set my camera and waited patiently until one swam in to view and that’s when I snapped this shot.