The Eel With The Midas Touch

     The winter of turbulent seas has continued virtually unabated.  Our buddies Bob and Kim Hillis noted a break in the high surf and we made the most of it with a trip to 49 Black Sand Beach.  Although there was a surfeit of vog inland, the sky over the beach was a briliant blue.  The little bay was flat, but the water

A Recent Sighting on Alii Drive

was cloudy.   There were mostly usual suspects, along with more snorkelers than I have previously seen at this venue.  We all had a nice swim and then enjoyed some spectacular whale watching from the picnic area adjacent to the petroglyph trail.

      Yesterday, hopeful that we would get one more day of swimable water, Sandra and I bopped down to Kahalu'u.  On the way we noted the spot where the lady torched herself and her estranged husband.   This is somewhat less amusing, as he passed last Thursday.  She remains in critical condition at the Straub Burn Center, now charged with second degree murder.  KHNL, in an attempt to keep the story humming, reported this evening that the deceased bore the name Ghenghis Khan Kaaihue.  The Golden Horde integrated several religions as it expanded across Asia

Don't you wish that you could look over your shoulder?

 and the exact location of the first Ghenghis Khan are unknown.  Thus, its difficult to predict to what better place this latter day khan aspired.  But I hope he made it there, whatever or where ever it may be.

    Down at the now infamous beach park, we noted substantially more wave action than we had hoped.  We entered the water on the mauka side, as our usual entrance has been scoured to a washboard of lava.  As I negotiated the rocky channel, I was passed by the most handsome chub I have ever seen.  He was a just entering his teens, about the size and shape of a brook trout, and he bore a handsome coat of evenly spaced bright white spots over a burnished silver field.  These were not large spots like you see on some adults, but a panoply of spots less than half a centimeter across.  This adolescent chub was so handsome that I hope to receive a tie in his image next Christmas.

    I turned to take his picture, but the water was only eight inches deep and swishing in and out over the rocks.  Mui pelogrosso!.  Sandra, trailing right behind me, spotted the fish.  So distinctive was this little fellow, that she knew what I was looking for.  And she saw a second, which she reported as having less

Banded Moray Eel  Kahalu'u February 2015

 brilliant spots.  Despite her encouragement I could not get to where the fishes were and my description will have to suffice.  C'est domage.

     Out in the bay, we encountered a hermit crab harboring in a coral depression.  If you look at the picture, you will perhaps identify him as a Hidden Hermit Crab, Ca. latens.  As I was taking his picture, he was looking back at me over his shoulder.  Note how those muscular eye stalks are able to bend back like a pair of fiberoptic endoscopes. Had I, at that moment, required an ERCP, I would have been in luck.  He might have even given me a professional discount.  Much like that offered by tiger sharks to the lawyers.

  Out by Surfer's Rock, we encountered a pair of hunters in full hooded wet suits and brandishing spear guns.  Like a pair of sea going banshees they was. Arrr. Not satisfied with depleting the fish with their weapons, they were stomping mercilessly on the coral.  How I wished that the bastard who admonished my

The distinctive tail pattern of G. ruepellii

beloved a few weeks ago for the merest grazing of the coral was there to read these villains his vituperative brand of the riot act.  Now that would have made for some good theater.

    "You Can't Step On The Coral!"   Thunk.  "You Can't Shoot Me In the Guts!"  Sometimes our imagination has to suffice.

    Making the turn into the cloudy water over by the Rescue Kiosk, I was hoping for a Milletseed, an octopus, or at least a Pearl Wrasse.  Instead, my eyes were drawn to a blaze of gold, which was the head of a Banded Moray (G. ruepellii)  This was a pretty big guy, more than three feet in length.   He was coiled in the rocks, threatening with open jaws.  We got down within a foot for a  photograph.  What a handsome golden head!  He turned in the coral to reveal the gray and buff bands on his flank and the dorsal line, a fine ribbon of distinctive black and white corresponding to the alternating bands on the body. 

    After a bit, he broke cover and swam about ten feet, disappearing  into another coral.  During his exposed swim we nabbed a full body photo and an inferior moving picture.

    It was a delightful sighting of this handsome eel which is far more common at night than during the day.  For those of you new to fish identification, remember that the Undulated Moray (G. undulatus) may sport a dusting of gold on his noggin. And his body may or may not have the chevron banding pattern.  Hopefully when you see a banded moray he will have the distinctive flank pattern you see here.  Not to mention the blazing golden head!

jeff

Ghenghis Khan Kaaihue

Ghenghis Khan Kaaihue

Ghenghis Khan Kaai

 

The Eel With the Midas Touch.

      

The Winter of the Big Surf

Kailua Nights

   In late January, Sandra and I took a quick trip to Portland to visit our growing family.  While we were gone, the Kona Coast experienced some huge surf.  A friend sent me a  link showing killer waves reaching the third story of the Sea Village condo, where I watched the Huskies win the Orange Bowl and a slice of

Flying Gurnard  Kailua Bay  February 2015

the National Championship.  Lucky for me that day was January 1, 1984. Just imagine how wet the familia Hill would have been if it was January 2015!  I regret that I can not share this clip with you, as it has been removed by the (spoil sport) poster.  Take my word for it.  The waves were crashing more than 40 feet up the side of the building!

    Even though you can't see the video, you can see the effects of this period of monster surf all along the Kona Coast.  The sandy entrance at K Bay has been washed away.  My tips on entry are more pertinent than ever...assuming that you have tender feet...like me.

    And how about the woman that incinerated herself and her ex at Kahalu'u a few days ago?   Succussfully stalking her estranged husband and his special ladyfriend, parked harmlessly on Alii drive above K Bay, she started pouring gasoline on their car.  When the  ex got out to confront her, she switched to Plan B: soaking them both and flicking her Bic.  Whoosh!

Pinktail Triggerfish,  Kahalu'u  2015

   I guess you don't need to be concerned for your safety, as she is safely ensconced in the burn center at Straub on Oahu.  And not to worry, Kailua's finest called in OSHA to make sure that any residual petroleum did not endanger our friends with fins.  But I digress.

    On one of the seemingly innumerable high surf days we went to Beach 69.  The beach where we love to camp out in the shade apre snorkel has been largely reduced to rocks, with a large rocky berm barring your access.  This big surf was a big deal.

     In spite of all the high surf, we have found some breaks to get in some snorkeling.  My best find has been  a juvenile gurnard in the shallows at the  pier.  I'm also including here pictures of pink tail triggerfish and elgant coris taken at Kahalu'u prior to the

Elegant Coris  Kahalu'u 2015

 conflagration.  although we haven't seen Paul Allen this winter, his reef seems to have survived the surf.  On a recent outing, we saw this scribbled filefish lurking beneath an overhang of lava.

    Perhaps the biggest news is that I have survived another birthday.  My  nadar cumpleaños on the Ironman side of the pier did not reveal much in the way of interesting fish.  But it at least reaffirmed that I am still able to get in and out of the sea. There were lots of young tourists around marveling at a green sea turtle; the next generation of fishwatchers in the making.

jeff  

Who You Lookin' At?