Wir Müssen Einen Schnorchel Gemacht

   Before the recent deluge, in which we had two banana trees and  our ornamental taro collapse (requiring an excessive amount of gardening) I snuck in a quick swim down at the pier.  The water was a teensy bit warmer, modestly cloudy and contained only one fish of interest.  This was a pebbled butterly who had a huge chunk taken out of his back.  It looked like he had been chomped on by a pit

Monogamous mating, A pair of  Pebbled Butterflyfish  

bull.  In truth, I don't know what sort of predator would take such a semicircular chunk out of the back of a butterflyfish.  One would think that most large carnivorous fish, a barracuda, for example, would take a wedge shaped chunk.  So maybe it was a pit bull.

   Aside from the size and shape of the missing chunk, there were two interesting aspects to this fish.  First, it was amazing that a bite of this size was not fatal.  I'm going to guess than in one fell swoop he lost 10% of his body mass.  Fish must have a mechanism to quickly close off the arteries supplying the outer muscles unlike that in humans.  One might also wonder if that chunk is going to grow back.  we see geckos in our yard regrowing their tails.  Is the same true for butterflyfish?

   The second thing that I observed, was that the mate of this fish was swimming along with his

It is a very attractive swim buoy!

injured partner as if nothing had happened.  They were swimming a little slower than usual, but there was no indication that, despite this catastrophe, the better half was looking for a new mate.  This is clearly a degree of fidelity, known as monogamous mating, that does not exist in humans.  Only three percent of mammals (according to our friends at wikipedia) engage in monogamous mating.   Obviously not all fish are paired up in such a dedicated fashion.   

   This information may come in handy if anyone asks you, "What is the biggest difference between Donald Trump and a butterflyfish?"

   The more interesting aspect of my day at the beach involved my fellow human beings.  On arrival I encountered three recreational swimmers attached to snazzy new buoys in designer colors.  Do you remember the day when you saw your first tennis ball that wasn't white?  Now they come in optical green, yellow and orange.  And so do swimming buoys.  Variety is nice, and the girl in the add looks pretty good with her yellow buoy, but is looking good really the object?  The more I thought about it, the less sense it made.   There is a perfectly good reason that it is called Coast Guard orange, and it has little to do with complementing

Crystal Charges by with her Powerbreather.

a pretty lady's swim suit.  Yellow is bad enough, but a green swim buoy?  For crying out loud, the water is green!

   As I swam, I realized that if I was towing a swim buoy I would not be able to free dive.  Remember how Jaws was able to pull those air filled kegs below the surface?   Simply amazing!  Mr. Google doesn't hop right on this question, so I'll have to ask around and get back to you.

   As I began my swim, a lady entered right behind me using a device that I had not previously encountered.  She had a double barreled snorkel.  Tubes went up on both sides of her head joining at a central mouthpiece.  She wore fancy swim goggles which were not attached to the snorkel... the double barreled snorkel was secured by a strap that went around the back of her head.

Frodo says, "If you want to defeat the Dark Lord get a Powerbreather."

    Lucky for you, I met the double barreled snorkel lady après swim at the showers.  Her name is Crystal and she attests that the double barreled snorkel, known as Powerbreather, is just the thing.  It was designed in Germany and can be set to provide an incredible amount of air exchange.  But wait!  According to Crystal it can also be set to provide resistance to air exchange, in case you want to improve your lung function, exercise those muscles of respiration.  Ausgezeichnet!  You can see the snorkel at the Powerbreather website (https://www.powerbreather.com/en/)  where it is endorsed by none other than Jan Frodeno, our very own two time Ironman champion.  So beloved is Jan, that here in Kona we call him Frodo.  Maybe the next time I go snorkeling I'll put a wad of plastic in my snorkel.  Then I'll be the best breather on my block. 


Editors note.  Our photo processor is currently hors de combat.  Thanks to Ryan Photographic for the picture of the paired butterflyfish

The Coqui Frog Dilemma in Holualoa Heights

A Coqui Frog from Puerto Rico

      Over the last couple of weeks the palatial grounds of Casa Ono have been invaded by one or more coqui frogs.  Before we moved up to Holualoa Heights, I'm not sure that I knew a coqui frog from from a kinky blog.  Like virtually every other animal and plant that occurs at this elevation, the coquis are introduced. Eleutherodactylus, the genus whose members are collectively known as coqui frogs, have been introduced from Puerto Rico.  Back on their native island,  some of them are endangered and active measures are being taken to ensure their survival. These are small frogs and one clever writer notes that the genus name, Eleutherodactylus, is bigger than the frog.  As a matter of herpetological interest, frogs of this genus pass through the polliwog stage inside the egg, intra ovum as it were.  As such they do not require a pond to slosh around in while they prepare for adulthood. 
As they were introduced to Hawaii, in this case from Puerto Rico. I assume that there is only one species living here in Hawaii, but that may not be true.   In Puerto Rico there are 17 species in the genus.

     By and large, all of our introduced species get along with one another in a freshly formed

Its easier to kill El Guapo than a plethora of coqui frogs

ecological balance.  Coqui frogs undoubtedly fit into this mix and were it not for a single undesirable characteristic, they would go unnoticed by the general population of Homo sapiens  and there would be no need for this blog.   When Steve Martin, in the guise of the amigo Lucky Day, asked the people of the village of Santa Pulco what they do really well,  they looked at each other and replied, "We sew."

    Well coqui frogs sing.  One small frog creates such a racket that it can be heard for a long distance.  "Ko-Kee!"  This song is loud enough and persistent enough to keep the citizenry from a proper night"s sleep.  Not even Mike Lindell and his (expletive deleted) pillows could get my sweetie back to the land of nod once the coqui starts singing.  There is a neighborhood another 700 vertical feet uphill from our humble abode where these singers are so plentiful that no one sleeps and the citizenry wander around like zombies.

Your that guy.  The My Pillow guy!  Did you bring the citric acid?

   You might reasonably think that I am making an ocean out of a frog pond, but there is one aspect to the coqui situation that I have yet to reveal.  When one sells a house on this enchanted emerald isle, he is required to declare on the disclosure form that his property is free of coqui frogs.  Anywhere else, you must attest to the solvency of your roof...here its da frogs.  I suppose if you were Donald Trump (or his lawyer Michael Cohen) you would disregard the amphibious truth and check "of course not".  My law abiding neighbors, however, take a vastly different position.  I suppose that virtually everyone who lives in Holualoa Heights anticipates the day when he or she will face a situation requiring him to return to the lower 48 and, therefore, force the sale of their home.  Hence, maintaining property value is regarded as a holy tenet.

    With this in mind, there has been a modest war waged over the last two weeks.  Plants have been cut to aid in the finding of the singing frog.  Citric acid has been sprayed.  Supposedly the acid passes

When you hear a coqui its time to call in the Valkyries to defoliate.

through the pervious skin of the frog and he dies of acidosis.  Perhaps there is a frog ICU somewhere in our garden, where coqui frogs survive on itsy bitsy ventilators until their amphibious kidneys are able to overcome the pH imbalance.  This would explain why, two or three days after a seemingly successful spraying, the frog resumes his serenade.

   Citric acid isn't supposed to harm the plants, but that has not been the case in our yard. Many a monstera has turned brown and withered.  This is Hawaii, so as long as the cord like vines exist, new monstera leaves are sure to grow.  Yesterday, however, in the process of removing the dead leaves, I contrived to spear myself with the long pole pruner.  But what's an abdominal abrasion among friends where coqui frogs are concerned?

   So as of today, the singing grounds of Casa Ono looks like the DMZ and my upper abdomen is decorated with an angry red welt.  The Puerto Ricans claim to enjoy the nightly serenade of the coquis.  If only we could make that nasty disclosure form go way, I might learn to enjoy them as well.  As for Sandra, I have referred her to Mike, the my pillow guy.

 

Springtime at Kahalu'u

Napoleon Escaping Calvary.  Or No More Plays for You

   This morning we awoke to thunder.  We didn't see any lightening and it only rained a modest amount, but the rolling cannonade lasted for at least an hour.  Perhaps Napoleon  had returned from the grave and, with a battery of twelve pounders,  he was demolishing  Kainaliu.    Depending on your religious persuasion, this may not be so far fetched.  I mean, it is the season.  Right?  And who's to say that the Little Corporal, apparently as charismatic a fellow as one is likely to meet in this lifetime, had less of a shot at it than JC.  So good bye Aloha Theater.  No more plays for you.  Ka boom.

   We have relatively few rules here in Holualoa Heights, but one of them is, "Don't go snorkeling in an electrical storm."  Lucky for you guys out in the blogospere, I got a nice swim in at Kahalu'u two days ago.  We had been experiencing a hot sticky spell (winter is apparently over) so a swim seemed like just the thing.  The tide was way out so I crawled, more than swam, through the rocky gap in only three inches of water.  Once free of the congestion at the entrance, the water, while shallow, was not particularly cold.  In fact, there was an area over by what used to be the hotel that was down right warm...possibly around 85 degrees.

I'm gonna bite you.

    Early on I had an encounter with a male humu humu busily protecting the family nest.  When you think about it, there really aren't that many animals that have an interesting egg protecting strategy.  Killdeers come to mind.  I was barely aware of those small inland plovers when I was a child and I suppose that was a good thing.  Once you get the knack of finding those rufous pipers, you can drive the male killdeer completely bats by repeatedly entering the nesting territory.  And the broken wing display is pretty fun to watch.  This is not the sort of temptation with which you should confront an adolescent male.  He has enough problems as it is, without harassing helpless birds.  

   The deal with the triggerfish is different, of course.  Not possessing the requisite equipment for a broken wing display, he has to be a bit more straight forward.  First he threatens to bite you and if that doesn't work, well, what's a daddy triggerfish to do?  I would suppose that most of us who snorkel regularly in Hawaii have experienced  the business end of a humu.  Luckily it only hurts a little bit.  I let this brave father threaten me

Its over here!  Over here, I tell ya.  Over here, over here, over here...

a few times, took his picture and headed off, unbidden and unbitten.

   Shortly after my triggerfish encounter, I saw something unique in my experience.  A pair of sailfin tangs swam by, very close to me and very, very close to one another.   The thing is, that for a moment I didn't realize that they were both sailfin tangs, as the smaller of the pair was completely black.  I tried to get a picture of this unusual pattern, but by the time I took my shot the fish was already returning to his normal striped pattern.

   John Hoover tells us a few things.  First, the smaller member of the pair is almost certainly the male.   For those of you who don't see sailfin tangs every week, let me assure you that as much as any fish in the Hawaiian sea, the sailfin tang always occurs in pairs.  Always.  And one is always significantly larger than the other.  One might say, apparently, larger than her mate.

Tangus Interuptus.  Que Triste.

    Hoover goes on to say that sometimes a sailfin tang will turn almost black when "driving off an intruder."  John doesn't specify if the intruder is an unaffiliated SFT or some other species that is interfering with the plan.  Whatever that is.

    On our reef,  the comical orangespine unicorn tang is commonly seen driving off an intruder while exhibiting a remarkable color change.   The fish darkens from gray to black and both his pectoral fin and the spot on his forehead turn bright yellow.  And invariably the guy with the yellow forehead is chasing away an intruder.  

    That was definitely not the case with this pair of SFTs.  It was springtime, dammit, and they were going to make the two headed beast.  Unfortunately, after they almost bumped into yours truly, their ardor cooled and, as I stated above, the male rapidly returned to his striped color pattern.  I apologize for the poor quality of the accompanying photograph.  I certainly have lots of better pictures of sailfin tangs, but I thought you might like to sympathize with the obviously frustrated male. Once every six

Orangespine Unicorn Tang Aggresive Coloration  Kahalu'u 2014

months or so, John Hoover reads this blog and perhaps he will include this sexy information in the next, dare I say, Penultimate Guide.

    There was one more good thing to be seen in K Bay on this warm day.  Just as I was making the clubhouse turn I saw a humongous dragon wrasse.  He was probably only four inches, but I would swear he was five.  If I'd had a net I could have scooped him up and he would have fed an entire family of four.  What we had here was the bull goose looney of dragon wrasses.

    As you all know, the dragon wrasse attempts to fool predators by flopping this way and that in an attempt to imitate a tattered leaf.  This Baby Huey wasn't fooling anyone, least of all your humble correspondent.  I got a few pictures from the surface.  The best of that bunch you see here.  When I dove down for a better shot, he flopped away, never to be seen again.  If Randle McMurphy, the true bull goose looney, could have flopped so effectively, he might have saved himself a few volts and

"But its the truth, even if it didn't happen."

possibly a lobotomy.  As for the bull goose dragon wrasse, I predict he will turn into a Fine big rockmover and that nurse Ratched will rue the day that she went snorkeling at K Bay.

   As for the rest of you, come on in,the waters fine.

jeff

Hooking Up with the Honu Divers

    For the last few months, Sandra and I have been exercising at Pacific Island Fitness, not the fanciest club in the world, even here in Kailua Kona, but it is included as part of our Kaiser Permanenete insurance plan, which makes it significantly more attractive.

Worldwide Distribution of the Green Sea Turtle, aka the Honu

   Across the parking lot from the fitness club, which is in the hillside mall directly below the Queen Ka'ahumanu expressway, is the shop of Kona Honu divers.  As you may recall, elsewhere on our emerald orb the honu is known as the green sea turtle.  Although Hawaiians would have you believe that this is an animal unique to our archipelago (an endangered species no less),  the green sea turtle is the most widely distributed of the sea turtles.  If you have ever had sopa tortugua anywhere from Boton to Buenos Aires, you were probably dining on a GST.

   Regardless, the honu holds  special fascination for those of us in the Sandwich Islands.  Up in Kohala, the honu is found on ancient petroglyphs, while down here in Kailua, tourists delight in
seeing one at Kahalu'u. Even your humble correspondent experiences a small thrill when seeing a turtle swimming free along a deserted shoreline.

Honu Libre  Ho'okena 2012

 But setting the turtles aside for a moment, let us return to the dive shop. These are the nice people that sold me my current mask and snorkel, and they run a shop full of goodies that appeal to the water minded.  Thus, from time to time, after pedaling the stationary bicycle for half an hour, we have wandered in for a chat and a look about.

   On Monday I found myself conversing with a pleasant young lady by the name of Shel.  One has to assume that her given name is Michelle, so in a different place and time she might be known as Shelly.  But if one thinks about it, there is something rather poetic about a girl named Shell working for an establishment whose name celebrates the sea turtle. She shared some of her favorite snorkeling spots, which, of course, are similar to mine.  Shel had one spot on her list that I found very interesting.  She

goes in to Pawai bay, at the end of the runway at the old airport. I have read about people entering there, but have never felt up to it myself.

Indigo Dartfish Courtesy of John Spears

    Not only is Shel a scuba diver, but a talented free diver.  She said that in that location, over rubble 40 feet below the surface, she sees indigo dartfish.  This fish, according to John Hoover, is found over sand or rubble below 30 feet.  About thirty years ago I took the boys on an early morning snorkel to Kahalu'u, squeezing in one last swim before we headed back to the mainland.  That morning we saw a pair of indigo dartfish, my only ones.  Having an attention span only slightly longer than Donald Trump, I had not read Hoover's piec on the dartfish in the Ultimate Guide.  Therefore,  I didn't realize how lucky we were that morning so long ago.   I have often wondered why, despite my vigilance, I didn't see another pair of dartfish...now I know.

   But getting back to Ms. Shel, noting my interest in seeing new fish and going to new places, she directed my attention to the bulletin board by the door where the dive shop advertises their upcoming trips.  Low and behold, they are going to Bali.  But wait!  They are also going to the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.  Their trip to the PI is divided between a  week on a dive boat and a week at a dive resort on Negros Island, near the southern end of the archipelago.

     Being much like Mr. Toad from that charming children's classic, The Wind in the Willows, I left

Off to Dumaguete.  Mole, Badger and the Water Rat bid Mr. Toad Bon Voayage.

the shop bedazzled.

     The next morning we went to Walmart, the employer of choice for recently arrived Philippine girls. While Sandra was shopping for paper towels and pill containers, I went to the photo department where one of my Philipina friends redirected me to the seasonal department.  There I tracked down a young lady named Thuma, who was kind enough divert her attention from the Easter supplies to talk to me about snorkeling in the Philippines. Thuma is not a diver and she didn't know too much about Dumaguete, where the dive shop is going, but she did know that there is good snorkeling at several places on Luzon, the island home of Manila and hence the international airport which can be reached non-stop from HNL.  The names she gave me were Subic (the home of our former naval base, still inhabited by Americans), Thousand Islands and Batangas.

    A little research revealed that she is right on.  There are, indeed, dive resorts in all those places.  

Subic Bay upper left, Batangas lower right.  Next stop Danang.

    Thuma had to get back to stocking her shelves, but her parting words regarding travel in the Philippines was to be careful and stay safe.  On the plus side, travel time to Manila is about 9 hours less than that to Denpassar.  And it is possible that we would add a few species, both fish and invertebrates, especially if we went to Dumaguete.

    The negatives are not inconsiderable.  Travel on Luzon may be tricky.  Strange as it seems, I believe taking a bus in Mexico may be safer than in the PI.  Things like lodging are twice as expensive in the Philippines as they are in Bali.  I don't understand why this should be so. However, we had lunch with our traveling companions Peter and Marla this week and when she heard this , Marla wasn't surprised at all.  She said that American Samoa is terribly expensive...90 USD per night for a dump.  Perhaps prior exposure to the US economy has had a lingering effect on the Philippine prices.

  More investigation is warranted.  Virginia at Hone Divers is going on the Dumaguete trip and she promised to keep a list of the cool stuff that she sees snorkeling.  I can hardly wait for her report.

jeff