Calamari for Valentine's Day

    Last year I saw squid in Hawaii for the fist time.  This experience (and all my other squid stories) are documented in the February 14 blog, cleverly entitled "Squid".  Sandra and I saw a school of five Bigfin Squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana, near the third swim buoy on the Ironman side of the Kailua pier.  About a week after our sighting, we heard through the coconut telegraph that someone had spotted a school of squid in the bay off Kona Makai.   Both of these encounters were single day occurrences in relatively open water. And both were in February.

   Yesterday was Thursday (The 7th of February) and so we packed up the car and headed to Alii Villas.  The idea was that Sandra would exercise in the pool with the ladies and i would kibitz with my old condo-bound friends.  However, when we got there, the ladies were halfway through the routine and it was decided that we would go shopping instead.
As we drove down Alii Drive I was muttering about how we don't spend enough time at the beach.  So we decided to stop at Kahalu'u, where I would take a quick swim and Sandra would read her book under a palm tree.

     I changed quickly and left sweetie in search of the perfect patch of shade.  The water was calm, clear and, the tide being half in or out, depending on your perspective) not very deep.  I turned left toward the sea and swam about ten yards.  Suddenly I was eyeball to giant eyeball with a pair of Bigfin Squid.  There were three snorkelers approaching from the other direction.  I pointed and luckily they saw the squid and stopped their progress.  One of the three looked up and asked, "What's that?"   I replied, "Reef squid.  Its a chance of a lifetime!"

     We watched the squid for awhile.  Unlike the squid at the pier, these two were not particularly shy;  I was able to photograph them at about two feet.  This was dramatically different from last year and made for some very nice pictures, as you can see.

    It occurred to me that Sandra might be able to use my mask (it being exercise day, we had left her mask back at Casa Ono)  So I swam to shore and found her in the shade chatting on the phone.  I waved my hand like a crazy person and said, "If its not life and death you should hang up."  After all, the squid were in the balance.  As it turned out, she was wearing contacts, so my idea of sharing the mask was a non-starter.  She thanked me for my thoughtfulness

and bid me a pleasant swim.

     On my way back out, while putting on my fins,  I attempted to alert the elderly Reef Teach dude (he's actually about the same age as yours truly, and isn't that depressing) that there were a pair of squid out there.  Although a couple of the tourists, with whom he was clogging up the narrow entry, seemed interested, he seemed rather blasé about the SOT situation.  I swam back out and saw some pretty fish in the clear water but was unable to locate the squid again.

     Back on the beach, I talked to the Reef Teach guy, who at that moment was between clots of dilettantes.   He said that four squid have been harboring in K Bay for over a week.  I noted in last years blog that this species of squid has a Caribbean equivalent that looks identical, but is more diurnal.  Not only that, but you frequently see Sepioteuthis

sepiodea, very close to shore, in or near rocks and crevices.  This quartet seems to be taking a page from their Caribbean cousins.  Next thing you know, they'll be dancing under the limbo stick.

     We have noticed seasonal variation in all sorts of things here, where the seasonal change is slight but obviously important to both the plants and the animals.  Perhaps February, the beginning of spring here in these very Sandwich Islands, is the month when squid come to shore to make the beast with two backs.  Please note in the first picture that one squid is discernibly larger...males of this species are 40% larger than females.  This could be a mated pair!

  For those of you who follow the blog from Kailua, this is a rare species alert.  As for Sandra and I, we are going to take both our masks down to K Bay and try for another look at the molluscan lovebirds. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

jeff