Equipo: Canon EOS R5 camera, Canon RF 14-35mm lens, Ikelite 200DL housing, dual Ikelite DS232 strobes
Configuración: 1/60 sec, f/11, ISO 200
Location: Dot’s Hot Spot, Little Cayman, Cayman Islands
Our dive guide pointed out a Nassau grouper at a cleaning station in Little Cayman. As I watched it opening and closing its mouth, I thought I saw a rock or some algae on the fish’s side.
When I shot video from the front, however, I realized the object was an octopus. It was partially inside the fish’s gills, so I moved to get a better shot. The dive guide did not notice this and had moved on, so I did not have time to determine if the octopus was climbing out or in.
I later talked to another guide at the resort who had seen a grouper chasing an octopus at that same site on a previous dive. It is possible the grouper caught the octopus, and the octopus was climbing out of the fish’s gills to escape.
This was a truly unique find.
© Alert Diver – Q3 2026