The Killer Snowflake

Oh give me home where the Milletseeds roam...

   Exercise class was cancelled... the instructor had to seek out a dentist to repair a loose crown.  Not precisely what happened to Marie Antoinette, but urgent enough to preclude jazzercise in the pool.   Thus, your humble correspondent was in luck....the Redoubtable SKG would go snorkeling.  After a bit of shopping at the KTA we made our way to K Bay.  Sandra doesn't like Kahaluu when the tide is out, but the tide table calendar was right again and we had plenty of water to slither out through the channel into the cold clear water.  Yes, dear reader, winter has descended bitterly upon the Sandwich Islands.  I've been reduced to wearing a sweatshirt while eating breakfast on the lanai and the ocean water can be described generously as not warm.  Anyway, it was clear and calm as we set off together for a nice swim.

    Right away we spotted the lone Milletseed Butterflyfish that is sometimes seen here at Kahaluu.  Shouldn't someone talk to one of the aquarium dealers and get that poor fellow a mate?  Milletseeds used to swarm in like honeybees in this bay.  (We still have swarms of honeybees in Kona!)  If Milletseeds are going to make a comeback, a solitary fish isn't enough...we need to start with two.  I learned that from the Noah's Ark story back at the First Presbyterian Church in Vancouver.  Although, come to think of it, I don't think Noah had fish on the ark.  Probably back in Noah's day there was no such thing as global warming and aquarium collectors.

Geek!

  Shortly after running into the Milletseed, we saw another strange specimen.  This guy must have been looking for Dr. No, Captain Nemo or maybe Mr. Spock, ending up at Kahaluu by mistake.  All dressed up and only a Convict Tang to photograph.  Accidente!  But he did win the Geek award for his excessive get up and equipment.

    We had a nice swim over by the shuttered Keahou Beach Hotel.   The best coral remaining in Kahaluu is over in the southwest corner by the former hotel that now belongs to the National Park Service.  If our government had the brains God gave a squid, they would be operating the hotel, a local landmark if there ever was one, as a National Park Hotel with an eco-historical twist.  Like you find at Zion or Yosemite. There would be bus fulls of German tourists spending zeppelins-full of Deutsch Marks...excuse me, Euros...and the local economy would be booming. 

    But I digress.  This area by the ex-hotel is accessed with ease at high tide.  The coral is healthy but there were hardly any fishes at all.  So off we went out to Surfer's Rock.  There was nothing special doing around the rock and it looked like this might be a day for usual suspects only.

Snowflake Moray with Crab, Kahalu'u  January 2013

   We were dawdling by the rock when a fellow snorkeler directed Sandra's attention to a free swimming Snowflake Moray.  She in turn alerted me and we watched together as the eel, almost three feet long and as big around as a high quality garden hose, slithered behind a hunk of coral.  Instead of disappearing into the coral head, this fellow arched his back and struck at something.  A moment later he appeared on our side of the coral with a struggling crab in his jaws.  "He's got a crab!"  we exclaimed to each other through our snorkels. 

    We were lucky and over the next minute or so the eel devoured the writhing crustacean.  And I was right there as the death throes ceased and all that remained was an empty carapace.  I was really fortunate to take these pictures.  (I only needed my trusty little Canon D10).    

Can you see the crab in the jaws of the killer Snowflake?

     Aside from providing me with the opportuniy to show off these really cool pictures, this episode highlights an interesting point.  Moray eels look like really mean killing machines.  Every time they look at you, it seems that an eel bite is in the offing.  In fact, I've seen three lacerated digits as a result of those fell jaws and razor sharp teeth. The first two were dive guides with  "pet " eels that they fed for their patrons. Whoops! The third was our acquaintance, Maurice, who grabbed hold of the bottom near an unseen eel.  It is my highly educated guess that all three of these bites were inflicted by Yellow-margin Morays. Those sweet guys that look like your neighbor's pit bull who "would never hurt anybody.".   During the day, Yellow-margin Morays tend to stay put in the coral. They are dramatically bigger than most Snowflakes and Whitemouths, which are the eels we see hunting.   But in spite

of spending a heck of a lot of time looking at fish, we had never previously seen any eel with prey.

Yellow-margin Moray, Kona Makai, January 2011, 15 feet

  Over the last month, since returning from Mexico, we have not seen a zeppelin-full of eels.  Regardless, over the years we have seen a great many Whitemouths and Snowflakes hunting in the shallows.  From reading, I knew they were searching for crustaceans, so it was rewarding to see an eel successful in a way predicted by the learned ichthyologists. 

    In closing, I have two other thoughts:  First, if there were more crabs in the coral, perhaps we would have more eels.  And (here is a life lesson for us all) if this guy had been a little less crabby, perhaps he wouldn't have been lunch.

jeff 2012