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| On the road to Kohala |
This being the 21st Century, Sandra was exchanging text messages with our relatives as I piloted the sleigh. Through the miracle of modern communications, we were able to see Andrew playing in the snow on the front lawn in Seattle and a coat of ice on Charles' truck parked in Portland. Suffice it to say, living in Hawaii at Christmas time is more than acceptable.
Our destination was Mahukona, on the Kohala coast, 14 miles north of Kawaihae. There we were to meet my fish wallah and his lovely bride. Yes, my friends, I have had to designate Peter Kroppje as my fish wallah. I see the fish and then in an email or text message, sometimes referring me to his blog (one breath kohala) my fish wallah tells me what in the Ebeneezer Scrooge I have seen.
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| Are you sure those lyrics are approved by the Nazarene Church? |
For those of you who follow our exploits, you will know that we were on our yearly quest to see the Christmas wrasse on Christmas Day. This is a yuletide tradition dating back many years, more than Festivus, even. In my warped mind, I play a small, off color Christmas carol that goes along with the tradition. Sung to the tune of On Christmas Day in the Morning, the lyrics go so far south in the second line that I can not in good conscience repeat it. What would Pastor Sunny say?
Well, even Vice President Dense can rhyme wrasse with a destination
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| The Spotted Surgeon lives where the waves slam into the lava reef. |
Soon enough, back slapping and holiday wishes accomplished, Peter and Marla and Sandra and I were afloat in the chilly waters of Mahukona. Despite the crystal clear water, we didn't see much as we snorkeled across the bay. On the northwest cusp, there was a small surf breaking. In case one was as dense as Pence, there were spotted surgeons sliding back and forth with the surge over rocks festooned with sharp, decaying coral, the better to cut you into a mince pie. A pie, I daresay, more fit
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| Speeding on by. The Christmas Wrasse on Christmas Day 2017 |
But the surge on the edge of the lava reef is the lair of the Christmas wrasse and soon all four of us had accomplished our holiday mission. We saw two or three Christmas wrasses, but they swam so quickly through the rocky passages that it was difficult to get a good picture. This is the spot where the fish wallah had taken us last summer, when the water was ten degrees warmer, to see the five stripe wrasse. That handsome fishy was there again, but he is even more elusive than the Christmas wrasse; despite multiple effort, I did not get a picture to share. Never the less, seeing a five stripe wrasse is always a treat and we regarded it as a very nice Christmas present.
Knowing that there was an even better present under the tree on the south side of the bay, we turned in that direction and went in search of the pyramid butterflyfish. As we hit the south cusp of the bay,
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| The Gift of the Magi. Milletseed Butterflyfish on Christmas, Mahukona 2017 |
Twenty years ago, large schools of milletseeds roamed Kahalu'u. If you look in John Hoover's book published the mid 90s, he says that the milletseed is Hawaii's most common butterflyfish. Not any more. Now we see a rare straggler in K Bay or by the pier. I assume these sad singles have swum inshore to die. So seeing this healthy school of milletseeds made my heart soar like a hawk. Or perhaps like a hawkfish, to keep the rambling dialogue in the true spirit of Fishmas. Marla said they were not uncommon in that location. Although we did not see them there on two previous occasions, it seems to safe to put them on the list of something you might reasonably hope to see at Mahukona.
As expected, we found the pyramid butterflies in large numbers about 50 yards north of the
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| Another stocking stuffer.. Pyramid Butterfly at Mahukona Light, Christmas 2017 |
Sandra was getting cold, so she headed back, admonishing me not to dilly dally. It wasn't until a couple minutes later that I discovered that she had chosen a straight line route to the pier and was quite a ways closer to the shore than I was. Adios amiga. As I made my way back, I saw a bluestripe butterfly below me. I thought about taking a picture, but I discovered, upon attempting to dive him, that he was at least thirty feet deep. This tells you quite a bit about the fantastic clarity of the water. A bit further on, I ran into the milletseeds. This time I was at my leisure, so I counted the aggregation. 25 milletseeds. Hoo ahh!
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| Orange tailed juvenile of the Pinktail Triggerfish, Alii Villas 2012 |
This was a great Christmas swim, the best that I can remember. We saw the Christmas wrasse, guaranteeing a happy and prosperous 2018. And Kanaloa, in his role as the Magister of the Hawaiian Ocean, provided lots of other treats as well.
May your days be merry and bright.
Jeff
I wrote that the Milletseed is Hawaii's most common butterflyfish because that's what ichthyologist Dr John E Randall wrote in his 1985 book *Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes*, from which I drew much information. I should have relied less on books and more on experience! I now realize that Dr. Randall writes not from the somewhat narrow perspective of snorkelers and divers, but rather as an ichthyologist with wide vision. He goes on to explain in a later book that huge numbers of Milletseed Butterflyfish are found in deep water, as deep as 800 feet, and that while some do inhabit shallow inshore waters, they are more common at depths of 65 ft. or more. From my own experience I would now agree with you that they are uncommon at most snorkel and even most dive sites. They may be Hawaii's most abundant butterflyfish in terms of sheer numbers, but that doesn't necessarily make them the most common, as most snorkelers and divers understand that word. I don't think this is because of habitat degradation, rather they mostly prefer deep water.
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