Monday, October 8, 2012

Ironman Heats Up with a Shortnose Wrasse

Ironman Racers Training on Alii Drive
    It has become increasingly  apparent that we here in Kona are in the midst of a world class event.  The number of Ironman participants increases daily along with spectators.  The biggest surprise has been the number of foreign athletes.  We see them swimming and running and zipping around town on their fancy bikes.  And talking in a variety of peculiar foreign languages.  A large Belgian contingent speaks Flemish.

  While the triathletes are otherwise distracted,  I take full advantage by hitting on their dishy SOs.  Yesterday  I observed a lady sitting on the pier for at least 45 minutes.  She was from Adelaide, of all places, and she was waiting for her man to return from the sea.  If only I had been wearing Old Spice.  We spoke briefly of the Barossa Valley, home of worthy red wine and a few good birds...the feathered kind. The conversation dwindled as her eyes returned to the restless ocean.   I  took my leave,  noting that her husband was bound to return sometime.   (As previously reported, drowning is not in the spirit of the Ironman.)
)
An Interlude for the Ironmen
 


   Today, as I wandered down to the pier, I was accosted by a series of poster boards bearing the likenesses of previous winners of the Ironman.  Bleachers now cover the sidewalk near the pier.  Curiously, they face the street.  Shouldn't they face the water where the swimming is going to take place?
Shortnose Wrasse male, Kailua Kona, October 2012, 3 feet
Of course, they face Alii Drive where the triathletes will stumble to the finish line.  I mean, can you imagine a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride followed by a marathon?  Oy!

    I was so full of Ironman spirit that I tried to volunteer.  The nice lady in the Ironman officeinside the King Kam hotel said that someone would call.  I'm still waiting.

    After leaving the Ironman office, I put on my swim shirt and trademark beanie and hit the beach.  The multitude around town corresponds to more people in the water...swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking and going for rides in overpowered zodiacs.

    I entered the water in front of the hotel and wound my way through all of the above.  Even out on Paul Allen's Reef it wasn't completely peaceful, but the water was very clear and surging moderately.  I took advantage of the mild conditions to patrol the shallows.  I was hoping for a Five Lined Wrasse, a beautiful species restricted to the shallow shelf facing the pounding sea.   Two winters back, we saw that uncommon fish a few times in the surging shallows in front of Kona Makai and twice here on the PAR.  I haven't seen one now in a year and a half and its not for lack of trying.  I'm very trying...just ask Sandra.
Shortnose Wrasse, Macropharyngodon geoffroy Oct. 2012


 
Anyway, I'm paddling along through the Kona Crystal, washing back and forth over the coral a scant two feet below my delicate torso, when suddenly I see a Shortnose Wrasse.  It was a beautiful little fish, about three inches in length with electric blue markings.  Dr. Randall tells us that the lines on his head make him a male.  And this guy was a stud.  He permitted me to flounder near him for about five minutes.  By getting the sun behind me, I was able to capture him with his blue marking fully illuminated. 

    This was only the second time I've seen this species.  Last year I saw one at Beach 69.  The water was a little cloudy, so pictures today were remarkably better.  That aside, Makaleia Bay is rather peaceful when compared to the wave washed
Five Line Wrasse, Kona Makai, January 2011, 2 feet
environment of the PAR.  None of my references state that this fish is not found in the wave washed shallows, but having seen my one and only shortnose in a peaceful bay, I figured that's where they belonged.  I guess, based on this sighting, that my single anecdotal experience led me to an erroneous conclusion.  And we should keep our eyes peeled for a third shortnose in every location, from Kona Makai to K Bay.  In the meantime, I'm gonna keep scouting the wave washed shallows.  If you see Mr. Five Line, tell him I'm looking for him.

jeff

Monday, October 1, 2012

The Ironman and the Sea Monster


   Sandra and I are sportsmen, not quite like Michael Phelps and Lance Armstrong, but we enjoy seeking out important venues and interacting with them.  When I was birdwatching in Australia, I had the opportunity to drive the course of the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.  A few years later, Sandra and I drove the route of the Tour de France as it approaches Mt. Ventoux.  Right now in Kona, we are preparing for the most prestigious triathlon, the Ironman.  Two days ago the organizers placed huge orange buoys along the swimming course and signs along the roadways admonishing drivers to respect training athletes. 

   Two nights ago we decided that we would take a swim on the course.  We're not really triathletes, so our goal was to swim a mile, as opposed to the 2.4 miles that the Ironmen and women swim.
Triathletes chill out after the training event
And , of course we were going to be wearing masks, fins and snorkels.  But compared to driving the route of a bicycle race, it seemed like a worthy participation.

    We arrived at the pier to discover that a training event was just wrapping up.  There were tents providing the competitors shade and sustenance and lots of buff bodies, bikes,etc.  Every now and then, as we changed into our swimming gear, a runner would come in to cheers and applause.  Soon we were in the water, heading out on our own Ironman swim.
As we swam we were careful to stay out of the lane used by the training swimmers.

     As I reached the last of the usual swim  buoys, now dwarfed by a huge orange Ironman buoy, I paused and looked for Sandra.  She had stalled about ten yards to my left, obviously looking at something below.
Overtaking the Jelly
 
     Not wanting to miss out, I adjusted course and swam towards her.  Suddenly, I found myself overtaking a large pelagic jellyfish.  I had admired this species while studying John Hoover's Hawaii's Sea Creatures.  Knowing that it was pelagic, I had little hope of ever seeing one.  Wowser!  The jelly was cruising along slowly, rhythmically constricting the edge of the bell.  It took only a moment to summon Sandra, who was equally impressed.

    The jelly was at least three feet long, counting its rope-like tentacles.  The bell was a luminous purple with a light brown and black fringe.  Near the bell, the tentacles increased in size and changed form red to a creamy ivory.  This was an incredibly handsome animal!
Pelagic Jellyfish, Thysanostoma spp.  Kailua Kona 2012

    And the jelly was not alone.  There were several fish living among the tentacles.  The smallest were immature Golden Trevally, which look quite a bit like Sergeant Major Damselfish at first glance.  Also among the tentacles were two filefish.  The larger of the two was about six inches, the smaller about half that size.  The smaller guy stayed deeper in the tentacles, at times nosing right into the bell.  Both had a white honeycomb pattern superimposed over  a brown base with black spots at the center of each polygon.   We swam around the pulsating jellyfish with its curious cargo, taking lots of pictures while keeping a respectful distance from the large tentacles.

Unicorn Filefish imm.  Aluterus monoceros,  Kailua Kona 2012
    Finally it was time to swim away from these amazing animals, knowing that we would never see them again in the wild.  We completed our Ironman swim, passing what I believe to be the half mile buoy that the swimmers talk about back on the pier, and ending up at the orange  Ironman buoy near the Royal Polynesian resort.  We took a few pictures of the shore and started our swim for home.

    On the way in, Sandra showed me the school of scads.  And I got my picture taken with the Ironman buoy.  Top and bottom, these large orange buoys bear an admonition that they are not to be used as a life saving device.  On the side of the buoy are the logos of companies who produce life saving devices.  Apparently it is up to the swimmer to make his way to shore and then purchase his lifesaving equipment.  Drowning is not in the spirit of the Ironman!

Iron Jeff Flips You a Shaka!
     After the photo op, the Redoubtable SKG, brimming with Iron Woman spirit, challenged me to race in the last 150 yards.  It was exhausting, but we both made it and neither of us required life saving equipment.  As our reward, we stopped for a couple McDoubles on the way home.

 Back at Casa Ono, we got right to work..  We found the jelly in Sea Creatures right away.  The filefish was a different matter.  It was clearly the shape of our friend Mr. Scribble, but none of our books showed a fish with that white honeycomb pattern.  There are two rare filefish in Hawaii, Garrett's Filefish isn't pictured because it is found at extreme depth.  The other, the Unicorn Filefish, has little in the way of markings and really isn't the shape as Mr. Scribble. 

Gerry Allen's pic of A. monocreos Sulawesi 2012
     When all else fails, one must resort to letter writing.  I feel uneasy about this because invariably I am told to look at the picture on page 203 and there is your fish (dummy).  On the other hand, the mission is to find a new fish, so I sent off emails to John Hoover and Marta DeMaintenon, an invertebrate zoologist at UH Hilo, who has been kind and helpful in the past.  I must have been full of hubris, because I sent one to Jack Randall, the head of ichthyology at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu and the dean of Reef Fish in the world.

Team Mango says, "Find a new fish!"
    Late at night Dr. Randall emailed back, saying that he could not identify our fish and would send our "exceptional photos" to another expert, Bruce Mundy.  What a nice man.  Today Dr. Mundy wrote back, including a plate from  a new book on reef fishes of the East Indies.

    So its not a new fish for the state, but that immature has never been photographed before in Hawaii.  And its pretty cool if you can stump Dr. Randall, even for a few minutes.  The Great Oz gave us some sites to send our exceptional pictures to, so there is still a little work to do.

    Thanks for sticking with me on this long tale and we'll see you at the race.

jeff

Mr. Scribble, Aluterus scripta,, says, "So what if I'm not the only filefish in the sea.  I'm still the fav of the SKG!