A Plethora of Piñatas.

Elegant Coris male, Kailua Pier, February 2012

      One of my favorite movie characters, El Guapo from The Three Amigos, asked his henchman Jefe if he had a plethora of piñatas.   And did he know what a plethora was?  Of course, Jefe knew that the boss just wanted to get layed and he was taking out his frustrations on the employees.  In this instance, all I want to do is show you my backlog of pictures  that demand presenting, even though they don't have any coherent story.  So without further ado, I'd like to present my plethora.  Enjoy the pictures and try not to get shot already.

A Bird's Eye view of the Elegant Coris

      The day we saw the Blood Crab along the pier, we also saw a striking example of a male Elegant Coris.  This is not a rare fish, but the face pattern on this male is pretty dramatic.  And he has now persisted in the shallows near the first swim buoy for two weeks.  Long ago, about 25 years back, I thought I saw a Sunset Wrasse at the Mauna Kea.  The field guides weren't nearly as good back then. And Al gore hadn't quite invented the internet.  So my resources for identification were not what they are today.  Even now, with my Hoover's and Randall's photographic guides in hand, the dramatic markings on the face of this Elegant Coris male had me wondering if I had seen a Sunset Wrasse.  I'm not prepared to say that I didn't see a Sunset Wrasse on that day long ago, but it would be well worth your time to slip in at the pier and find this fish.  Tres Elegant!  

      As part of the plethora I'm throwing in a heavily doctored photo of Kailua taken from the water by the pier.

Kona In The Sky With Diamonds

  Picture yourself by the pier in the water.
  Where Sea Glass Hawaiians cast Passion Fruit Flies.
   Suddenly someone is there at the palace.
   Its Sandra with vog in her eyes!

Speckled Scorpionfish, Kahalu'u  February 2012

   With apologies to the Beattles, we will get on with the plethora.   At Kahaluu a week or so ago, I nabbed a couple pictures of this strange little fish.  The Speckled Scorpionfish lives in the intrstices of Pocillopora meandrina, otherwise known as Cauliflower Coral.  When one thinks of scorpionfish, one's mind is drawn inexorably to slow, painful death.  This fish is the most inoffensive member of that tribe.  He cowers so deep in the coral, peering out meekly, imploring you to just go away.     The second picture shows the prickly spines on his dorsal fin.  I assume that if you dove down and poked at the poor little dear, it would be possible to get a sting on your pinky.  So keep your (expletive deleted) hands to yourself.
      This is always good advice.  As in Alice in Wonderland, though, I sometimes have trouble taking my own good advice. (Just ask the Traveling Mr. Hazlett!) In the case of moray eels, scorpionfish and other obviously dangerous sea creatures, I do my best to follow this advice and keep my hands to myself.

Speckled Scorpionfish, Note the spines on the dorsal fin!

Hidden Hermit Crab, Calcinus Latens,  Kailua Pier 2012

     The next picture in the plethora is of the Hidden Hermit Crab, Calcinus latens.  I nabbed this picture at the pier the same day that Mr. Hazlitt ran the Ironcrab.  Note that this guy is sheltering in a cone shell.  This is a nice picture of a small crab, but you gotta believe when I find a cone shell that I suspect of having a hermit crab, I'm hoping for a Cone Shell Hermit Crab,  aka Stripey.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this picture of the latens.   Note, if you will the purple band on his walking legs just above the white.  The spots on the elbows of the chelipeds of this crab always remind me of the nighttime stars.

The stars at night, come out so bright.
(whump, whump, whump whump.)
Deep in the Heart of Kona.

If he's going to sing again, I'm going to wrap it up.  I hope you enjoyed the plethora and (as the say at La Cantina de los Borrachos) try not to get into too much troubles. 
jeff

The Perigrinations of the Amazing Mr. Hazlett or a report on Homing Instinct in Calcinus hazletti

Hazlett's Hermit Crab, Ca hazletti, Kailua Pier  2/23. 2012

    Two days ago, I swam the Ironman side of the Kailua Pier.  The water was more than a little cloudy, but cleared adjacent to the pier.  As usual, I finished in this clear water looking for immature butterflyfish and, increasingly, hermit crabs.  To my delight, I spotted a moderately sized Triton shell, about 1 1/2 inches, coated in pink coraline algae,  perched atop a a coral head.  Recognizing this for a probable hermit crab, I dove and gently pried the little fellow loose.  To my delight, this was a hermit.
   Washing back and forth in the water, I examined my prize.  He was extremely brave, mounting repeated sorties against my fingers.  Cangrejo bravo!  Were this little fellow a bull, he should have found himself in the ring in Sevilla facing Belmonte.  He had a purplish carapace and chelipeds (claws) tipped with white and purple.  To my immediate vision, he appeared almost black and hairy.  I thought I had a new species of crab for my personal list.  I took a few macro pictures while holding the crab in my left hand and then swam towards shore, looking for a place to set the hermit down and get a better picture.

The pink algae encrusted triton, home to a hermit crab.

     I decided  to set him on the old part of the pier, that offers an  irregular surface at the level of the water.  I did this , but my plan was immediately quashed; a small wave came and washed the crab into the water before I could get any more pictures.  I searched for him underwater, but he was no where to be found.
     That afternoon we looked at the pictures.  As always, the camera doesn't lie; I had found a moderately large Hazlett's Hermit Crab...a fairly common species. 
     The next day I swam again at the pier and first checked out the spot where the Hazlett's had washed  away the day before.   I then went back to the coral head where he was first spotted.  This was easily located as I had carefully noted its position the day before, just opposite the small ladder descending to the boarding area for the cruise tenders. I had marked the spot carefully,  intending to return the crab to his home territory (only to be foiled by the shell washing into the sea.)

Hazlett's Hermit Crab, Ca. hazletti,  2/24  Same shell, same crab.

   Low and behold, a very similar crab was on the same coral head, within two feet of where I had found the crab on a previous day.  As I was messing with the camera, preparing to photograph the crab, two brown gentleman leaped from the pier to within a foot or so of my distracted corpus.  "Holy Shit!" I exclaimed through my snorkel as they swam away giggling.  It always gives me pleasure to provide others a chance for mirth.  Or to put it another way, what a couple of complete assholes.
    Digression aside, here is the picture of the encrusted triton shell on the coral head.  and here is the best photo of my new friend.   There is no doubt in my mind that we are looking at the same triton shell and, therefore, the same hermit crab.  (Look at the pattern of little shells growing on the big shell.)  I hope you like that second picture, I think its the bomb!
   I had the chance to read a PhD thesis on the web.  The author talks about a certain species of hermit navigating a meter in search of food.  He points out that crabs are known employ chemical and celestial information in their navigation.  How sensitive these receptors must be!  The distance that this small hermit traversed in less than 24 hours was roughly 20 meters.  Not only do we have an amazing example of homing instinct, but an admirable example of determination and stamina. 

Cangrejo Bravo gores a spear fisherman in Sevilla

    Suffice it to say, on this day I replaced him in the exact spot from which he was plucked.  There was a hunting Whitemouth Moray in the same coral head, but I was confident that cangrejo bravo could take care of himself.   I was careful not to get bit on his behalf, although it probably would have served me a lesson!

jeff

 This blog is dedicated to the late Patsy McLaughlin, a giant in the field of hermit crab biology.  Not only did she identify our Calcinus revi, she did her best to make me a better scientist. 
j

What's Up at the Pier (A Big Bad Baracuda!)

   As the season wears on, and especially in times of big swell, we find ourselves going back to the Kailua pier.  From the standpoint of relaxation, it has Kahalu'u (home of the maddening crowd) beat hands down.  And when I think about what's missing on this season's list, it seems the pier is most likely to produce.  Specifically, we need a Finescale Triggerfish and Bluestripe Butterfly.  And a Red Stripe Beer.  Just kidding.
     So we haven't seen either of those worthies, but we've had some pleasant swims this last week or so and we've seen some good stuff.  Right near the pier I spotted this really handsome colony of orange sponge.  What a beautiful animal...and remarkably low on the phylogenetic ladder, basiscally organized single cells!
    I took Sandra to see it on the next day and happened upon  that Milletseed Butterflyfish.  I hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks and he's getting a little bigger, still in the same spot by the tender dock.  By the way, on days when things are churned up (and we have had a fair share of those of late)  the water within ten yards of the pier is decidedly more clear than anywhere else.

The Ever Tasty Polynesian Halfbeaks

    And we've seen other good things: a Saddleback Butterfly, a small octopus and Polynesian Halfbeaks have become almost regular.  They must be good eating, because each time I see the school it looks like at least one more guy has lost a chunk of flesh.  Must be running into the Shylock of the deep.
     Or perhaps the fellow that I encountered today! Today was President's Day, or the Monday we celebrated as President's Day.   In any event, I don't think that the fish are going to elect this guy president.  I'd say the Mu looks more presidential.  This fellow looks more like the guy that Don Corleone sends to make you pay up.

Look carefully and you'll see the Cleaner Wrasse

     Over on the Paul Allen's Reef side, I was enjoying a pleasant swim.  The surf was lower  and once out by the estate the water was pretty clear.  Out on PAR I have a spot, as my dear reader's know, where I check each time for the pair of Harry Potter's Angelfish.  This day, as I looked down on Hogwarts, I saw a Great Baracuda as long a Louisville Slugger and about three times as thick.  The guy was a beast.   He was very dark, blending into the background of dark coral.  It was immediately apparent that he was being cleaned, probably accounting for the change in color and his repose.

When the schnecken beckons, its time to get out of Dodge !

    I snapped a couple pictures and then, tucking away my shiny keys, I dove for a close up.  Naturally as I approached, he abandoned the cleaning station.  His color blanched and then firmed up, much lighter than before.    I think his change in coloration was saying, "Rest time is over, now let's have a snack."    Or as Albert said in the Birdcage, "When the schnecken beckons...."   I followed this brute around for a few minutes.  He was a powerful, prowling presence.
    I regard a barracuda attack as extremely unlikely...  a fiction perpetrated by authors like Carl Hiassen to sell paperbacks.  My son, James, who is like a marine mammal, takes the opposite point of view.  When he sees a bad boy like this, he wants to walk on water.   So where does the truth lie?
    There are only six recorded barracuda attacks in Hawaii.  The last was seven years ago on Oahu during a night dive and it was thought that the 'cuda ran into the diver at high speed inadvertently.  Intent be damned.  Although he survived he was plenty injured.

The Don's Enforcer.

    There were two daytime attacks on the kona side of the Big Island in the early 90s.  (Wait a minute!  That's where we are!)  Both were against women wearing shiny barrettes.  Neither was dangerously injured, but one needed surgery to remove teeth imbedded in her skull.  Bummer!    
    Now that you know the facts, you can make your own decision.  This particular fish defineitely knew it was me and not some mackerel, which probably made me safer.  However, taking off your barrette appears to be a pretty good idea before you approach the bad boy from the mob.  And for goodness sake, don't tell  Mr 'cuda that I compared him to Albert!
    That's the news from the Kailua pier.  Keep your shiny bling tucked away and look for the Mu to appear as the next conservative challenger in the run-up to the GOP convention.

Mu For President !

                                                               Kona Makai, April 2011
jeff

Squid !!!

    I was tempted to title this blog Calamari, but that might make me feel like a bit of a cannibal.  The animals I see in the ocean are very special to me and one hates to think that they are dining on one's friends.  The fact is, however, that I dearly love calamari, especially as prepared at the Alexis Greek restaurant on Burnside in downtown Portland.  Lightly dipped in tsasiki, they are a gastronomic piece of heaven. 

A Quintet of Cephalopods,  Kailua Pier,  2012

    Two days ago Sandra and I went to the pier in the early afternoon.  On the drive we saw a lady runner and as we approached, we saw that the pier was the headquarters for a triathlon.  Their were bikes, exhausted runners, supporters in colorful T-shirts offering salt tablets,  water, etc.  And a giant digital timer.  At the time we were donning our gay apparel  (swim shirts, actually...I'm not gay...not that I have anything against gay people, mind you...I'm just not one of them.)  the time on the clock was 5:46.  I have no idea how long it takes to run a triathlon, but the idea of exercising continuously for the better part of six hours seems inhuman.

     As we made our way into the water there were lots of people flopping about, throwing footballs, paddling surfboards, but no suffering triathletes that I could identify.  They must have been out running or biking.  Or maybe they drowned.  (In the words of that famous runner, Forrest Gump, shit happens.)
    You may recall that its been rough lately, so you won't be surprised to hear that in addition to being cool and refreshing, the water was a little cloudy...probably twenty feet of visibility.  So you're probably thinking that if I'm going to tell you about squid (as opposed to what we might have had for dinner the night before) this would be a good time to get around to it.    There was nothing special until we made it out to the third swim buoy, about seventy yards from the beach, when suddenly there were five squid in front of me.  "Squid, squid, squid!"  I blurted through my snorkel and Sandra was right on them, as well.

Notice how this guy has changed color.  Does he like me?

   In thirty years of snorkeling in Hawaii, I had never seen a squid.  My friend Kyle promised me squid when we went night snorkeling  in November, but they failed to show.  I had reviewed them in Hoover's Sea Creatures at that time, so I was prepared.
   This quintet of cephalopods reminded me greatly of the reef squid in the Caribbean, ranging in size from 12 to 16 inches, remarkably brownish.  a couple times one or more would adopt a yellowish hue. I assume the color change was signal to his mates. They stayed together in a school and let us approach to within ten feet.  You can seem my efforts at photography.  I shot 11 pictures and would have taken lots more, but the camera stopped working.  (It might have been a discharged battery or maybe something worse.  When I got home and recharged the battery, it gave an error message: lens malfunction, restart camera.  simply turning it on didn't do the trick but removing the battery and replacing it did...so for the time being we are back in business.)
    Sandra and I watched the squid for about five minutes.  Eventually they got spooked and swam away.  It was quite a treat!  At home, Sandra used the internet to identify them as Bigfin Reef Squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana,  which is widely distributed in the indo-pacific.  Like  Bobtail Squid, which according to Mr. Google are more common in Hawaii, they are primarily nocturnal.    

Caribbean Reef Squid,  Bonaire,   Netherland Antilles

      We have seen squid in three other locations.  All three times I've been to the Caribbean I have seen reef squid,   Sepioteuthis sepioidea.  My impression is that they are far more active during  the day than the closely related Pacific species.  The taxonomists who named them noted that the fin goes all the way down the mantle, like cuttlefish.  The scientific name for cuttlefish is Sepia, and Sepioteuthis means something like similar to Sepia, i.e. cuttlefish. 
    The first two times I saw this species, I had not started taking pictures.  The shot you see here was taken two years ago in Bonaire.  That island, still affiliated with Holland, has made itself a fishwatcher's paradise by severely regulating how one uses the ocean.  Basically you are not permitted to touch anything...much less spear fish!  That picture was taken with the old camera, one you can buy on-line for $40.  Pretty good picture considering.  You can see how similar that species is to the Hawaiian cousin.
      I saw Humboldt's Squid, Dosidicus gigas, on a kayak trip in the Sea of Cortez out of La Paz, Baja California.  Several times on that trip we entered bays to find up to a hundred of these large (roughly  four to five feet long!) squid beaching themselves.  Some were dieing on the beach, others were swimming lethargically towards the shore.  I find it interesting that we were encouraged to go snorkeling, as it is apparently well known that Humboldt Squid are quite dangerous to swimmers, grabbing with their long, strong tentacles and biting with their sharp beaks.  According to Mr. Google, the Mexicans call them rojos diablos, or red devils.  In addition to our ha'ole guide, an attractive young woman, were supported by several  Mexican marineros, who must have been aware of the potential danger.  Thankfully, the large reddish brown squid just wanted to beach and die.
     It was a great trip.  There was lots of exercise paddling, we camped on deserted beaches on Isla Espiritu Santo and ate delicious fresh fish that the Mexican guides caught from the pongas while we were in the kayaks.  One day we swam with sea lions!  and I came away with a good saying;  one night our chica bonita guide told us that all guide stories begin with the phrase, "No shit, there I was."  And, no one got attacked by Humboldt Squid...no shit.

Broadclub Cuttlefish,   Bali,  Indonesia    2009

    One more squid and I'll let you go.  Two consecutive years Sandra and I went to Bali.  We liked it so well the first time, that the second year we stayed five weeks.  Our first lodging on that second trip was at Puri Wirata.  For an incredibly small sum, they gave us a room facing the Lombok strait.  Twice a day we would watch the fisherman set to sea in their small lateen rigged boats.  It was idyllic.
     All right, maybe it was a little hot.  Maybe we spent an inordinate amount of time inside our air conditioned room.  But the fish watching was the best.

The breeding cuttlefish were beyond my wildest imaginatio

Like many places in Bali, the beach in front of Puri Wirata was round stones the size of jumbo hens eggs.  Getting in and out of the water was painful.  The Balinese lifted their boats out on that beach barefoot, four guys to a boat. Ouch!  They moved some of the stones to create weighs for launching and we used those paths to enter for snorkeling.    
    One morning, it was overcast  and a little breezy, but Sandra and I were on a mission from God, and so we got the old camera ready, trod the stones and got into the water.  We hadn't swum ten feet when i looked down and, No Shit!, there were two Broadclub Cuttlefish.  Not only that but they were mating!  One was over the other, both held their tentacles stiff at odd angles and they changed colors.  Not like an octopus, going from one cryptic pattern to another.  These lovers were turning brilliant, electric lime green and purple.  Probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen in the water. 
    You are looking at the only two pictures I took.  We did not have extra SD cards and it was sort of like using film , in that I was concerned about using up my space and didn't take a huge number of pictures.  I'm lucky that those two turned out so well.  
    Well I hope you enjoyed my squid stories and I hope you get to go to some exotic locations and look for a squid or two of your own.  In the meantime, see a fish for me.

jeff

A Tale of Two Crabs

How aboot those wee orange flippers, eh?

     The surf is up again, even bigger this time.  But before it became difficult to snorkel, I got in a few good outings.  About a week ago, Sandra and I went with Jon Slater to the Paul Allen side of the pier.  The second Canadian I've shepherded in that location in as many months.  Jon is a vigorous young man (at 50 he is ten years my junior) who has swum in senior events and has his eye on triathlons.   He has his eye on hiking up Hualalai, our 8700 ft. local volcano. As a competitive swimmer, he chooses to wear ittsy bittsy blue and orange fins, so he is in training, even while fish watching.  Sandra's mantra this season is that she doesn't want to guide any more non-swimmers.  Lucky for John, he made the cut.

Where are we going?  And why am I in this Fish Tank?

     Despite the fact that it had been pretty rough the day before,  the water was clear.  That's the advantage of swimming along a lava rock shoreline, no sand to get stirred into the Kona crystal.  On the way out, we saw usual suspects, with the exception of a pair of Harry Potter Angelfish.  They were in the same spot I had seen them twice before.  Come to think of it, the first time I saw this pair was with  David , our friend Ross's SIL.  As with the Bunyon-esque David,   Jon wasn't much impressed with Harry and Hermione,  I guess if you haven't struggled to see your first Potter's, or if you are blissfully unaware of them, they aren't all that impressive.  Or maybe it takes a little more to impress a Canuck.

Haig's Hermits chilling   Kona Makai  6 ft  Nov. 2011

    On the way back, Jon and I snorkeled the extreme shallows, the area where one sees Five Stripe Wrasse, if they  are very lucky.  While Jon was chasing some silvery fish that might have been mullets (I didn't see them) I saw something really cool...a Haig's Hermit Crab strutting along with his turban shell.   I watched the little purple fellow for about a minute.  I was in about one to two feet of water that was surging in and out against the lava shore, so photography was out of the question.  It was a really good look, though,  combined with a solid intermediate swim  (to keep from getting bashed on the rocks.)
    This was only the second location I have seen Haigs Hermit Crab.  In fact, the first time I ever saw this species was just last season, in the rocks in front of Alii Villas (which is the only other place, aside from Paul Allen's Reef, where I have seen the Five-stripe.)   This is an unsheltered area where the sea surges against the rocks.  I have a colony staked out in and around a distinctive green staghorn coral. By now, I have seen that family of Haig's many times, but I had never seen one any where else.  The picture of two of the colonists was taken during the Creepy Calm...it would be suicide to dive against that cliff currently. 

Blood Hermit Crab   Kailua Pier  February 2012   6 ft

     A few days later,  I took a swim at the downtown side of the Kailua pier.  (Sandra had dropped me off while she went shopping.)  The swim was pretty routine, with clear warm water and the usual fish.  I have made a habit of finishing this swim against the part of the pier where the cruise ship tenders disgorge the sea-going rats.  The location where I had recorded a cracker jack  butterflyfish on three consecutive outings.  I was looking to make it four in a row.
       As I made it out to the end of this part of the pier, I was hailed by a local youth of perhaps sixteen years.  He politely admonished me that I should swim where it is safe, inside the buoys.    Equally politely, I thanked him for his advice (no sense in confronting the locals, who routinely leap from the pier into that very briny spot)  and continued my perusal.  Now, don't be confused and don't avoid this fish heaven  (assuming there are no boats around, of course).  The  only concern of my youthful adviser was that I was interfering with his fishing!
     Just off the proximal portion of the tender dock, feeding in the cleft of a rock, I spotted a larger hermit crab.  It was about a six foot dive down to this handsome fellow, a Blood Hermit Crab.  Included here are a couple pictures of this beauty.  We have seen this species only three times before, always at Kahalu'u, a remarkably sheltered spot for watching fish in the Kailua Kona area.This crab was living in a shell sporting a heavy growth of algae.  Previously we have found this guy in Triton shells; if you use just a little imagination, I believe you will agree that this crab is also wearing a triton.

This beautiful Blood Crab was a few feet from the pier!

     I find these two spottings instructive and they reinforce what I have thought for a few years.  The Kailua pier is a great pace to watch marine life.  The entries are safe and easy.   And if you go on both sides, you cover the two major habitats for shoreline marine life in Hawaii.  On the downtown / Ironman side, you have the shallow coral and rubble, similar to Kahalu'u, with an easier entry and much less current.  If you swim out from the King Kam you get the open ocean lava rock without the danger of a lava rock entry.  The coral on both sides are better preserved than elsewhere around Kailua and now we know that the very best crabs are there as well.

Keep Clam,
jeff
  

Surf 's Up

  This week Kona received some winter swell.  it wasn't huge, no ten foot faces throwing rocks the size of grapefruits over the sea wall.  But it was big enough to keep me out of the water, at least I skipped snorkeling for a couple days.

Its a  three board day for the lifeguards at Turtle Beach.

    One of those days I did something fun, something that I've wanted to do for a while.  Dressed in my swim suit, I took a sand chair down near the ocean on our lava rock beach.  Close enough that the waves were crashing at my feet.  I then held tight as the bigger sets sent waves over me and the sand chair.  A bit like a roller coaster ride for an old man.  And I'm like, "Surf 's up, dude!"
    The next day I went to Kahalu'u.  The surf was still high and for me it was a swimming exercise.  The current was sufficiently strong that I had to use my wits to keep from being washed backwards.  Even my friends the fish were having trouble swimming in the strong current.  The life guards were in their moment of glory.  They didn't close the beach, but they placed a buoy about fifty yards from the beach and yelled at errant snorkelers through their bullhorns.  To be fair, the current was really strong.

Saddleback Butterflyfish   Kahalu'u   March 2011

     Two days ago, the swell moderated a little.  Sandra and I went swimming at the Kailua pier.  Considering the extended strong swell, the water was remarkably warm and clear.  (As an aside, it seems like the really cold winter ocean temperture that we experienced at this time last year isn't going to materialize.  This day the water was probably 78 degrees F.)  I had neglected to shave during the incoming swell and with three days growth of beard,  my mask leaked like crazy.

Barred Jack  Kahalu'u February 2012

    Sweetie and I (and my soggy proboscus) made the loop in the cool clear water, me stopping to dump water from my mask every minute or so.  By the time we got back by the pier, the repeated accumulation of salt water had washed away my defogging soap and the mask was pretty cloudy.  Spitting in the mask does help.  and tucking it firmly under ones nose decreases mustache leak a little.  It was in this slightly improved state that I got a glimpse of a Saddleback Butterfly.  This pretty fish, while not extremely rare, is uncommon enough to bring joy whenever it is spotted and it is almost unheard of at the pier, so I regard it as the third really good butterfly seen up against the Kailua Pier in about month.
    Which brings us up to yesterday.  By this time the surf had diminished significantly.  And we were in the middle of a week when high tide comes during the day...the perfect day to go swimming at Kahalu'u with its shallow rocky entry.  If anyone out there cares, the so called sand channel entrance at Kahalu'u has been thoroughly washed away by this season's small storms.  During a very low tide it is necessary to walk across the water covered rocks for about ten painful feet.  During a higher tide it is necessary for us cognoscenti to dodge between the legs of the hoi poloi who insist on needlessly treading that painful, submerged lava.  So if you want to appear competent and save your feet in the process, put on your mask and fins in the initial pool  and swim out.  On the way in, its the same routine in reverse;  swim into the first pool and take off your fins sitting on the sand.   Your feet will be soooo happy.

The second in the pair of handsome Barred Jacks.

    Taking my own good advice, I put on my fins and gloves and clawed my way, gurnard-like, through the stumbling forest of human legs.  Of course, I had neglected to shave (again) and my mask, despite being positioned painfully beneath my nose, continued to leak.  Lucky for us, this time the soggy nose was rewarded with a good fish, a pair of Barred Jacks.  It was a bright blue day, the water clear and fish well illuminated.  i circled them for half an hour and here you can see the photographic fruit.  This fish is uncommon enough, and sufficiently spooky when you do see one, to have avoided my personal photo collection.  But no more!

    Last night, during one of my nocturnal meanderings (which I understand are common among the geriatric) I shaved.

May your seas be warm and your waters clear,
jeff