Ewa Blenny at Ho'okena

   This blog will address two important discoveries relating to Ho'okena.  The first is culinary.

    Yesterday was supposed to begin with brunch at the Coffee Shack.  A few miles past Captain Cook, this eatery with the killer view of Kealakekua Bay and Honaunau is perhaps the most popular place to eat on the leeward side of the Big Island.  When we arrived, there were lots of people milling around outside and the waitress who took our name suspected that we might be seated in 45 minutes.  This was Boxing Day, so there are tons of hungry people in Kona.  But even so...45 minutes?

     With filling our bellies in mind, we headed down the road.  In a few miles we ran across Keoki's Ono Fish and Chips.  As we entered, we realized that we had been to this location several years before.  In that iteration it was known as Epicure and specialized in cinnamon rolls.    Yesterday our waitress was Rhonda, a jocular lady of a certain age trying hard to be character of the week.  Hailing from rural  Louisiana, she speaks with a pronounced southern accent and insisted on calling me Mr. Jeff.  (To be honest, I've been called worse.)  Miss Rhonda served us delicious fish and chips and a cheeseburger in a garden setting.  We were done eating by the time our 45 minutes expired at the Coffee shack.

     If you were worried that, based on the name, this place might cater to locals only, don't be.  The only island presence in the place was the Donkey Balls guy on the sign outside.

    If you find yourself in a similar situation, you might just pull this arrow out of your quiver.

A Male Gilded Triggerfish at Ho'okena, December 2018

    It was a relatively short drive from Keoki's down to Ho'okena, where the day was still beautiful and the parking lot chock a block full.  We were offered a parking spot in the camp ground for a five dollar contribution, but before it came to that, someone pulled out and we slipped right in.

   The other option is parking on the non-existent shoulder of the road outside the park...a fifty meter schlep which we happily avoided.

   Sandra decided to let Charles and I swim while she stayed ashore in her sand chair in the shade and finished her book.  As the sea was calm, we entered by the pillars of the long gone pier for the first time in my career.  Following other snorkelers and canoes out into the bay, we were required to swim over shallow rocks for twenty meters.  But all was well.

   If you follow the blog, you know the expected fish of this location.  Potter's and flame angelfish, gilded triggerfish and garden eels.  Among fish watchers, Ho'okena is famous for these specialties 

Charles flips a face obscuring double shaka at Ho'okena

that everywhere else are found in deeper water. Charles and I found them all in short order.  Heading back into the shallow coral garden, I turned the camera over to Charles, who attempted to photograph a wily stripe belly puffer.

   Shortly after that, in a coral about twelve feet deep, I spotted what I initially thought was a juvenile cleaner wrasse...she of the blue stripe variety, which is what I saw..a long fish with a shiny blue stripe.  Before I took my dive, I realized that I was in error.  This fish was longer and skinnier than that tiny blue stripe cleaner wrasse.   And it was alternately straightening out and wiggling its body.  Still when I dove down and got my one superb look, I was surprised to be eye to eye with an ewa blenny.

    I was surprised because this is an extremely rare fish for a snorkeler.  It was only my second ewa blenny, and Peter Kroppje had to set me up for my first observation, over a year ago outside the bay at Mahukona.  That fish was much larger and had two fine blue stripes running the length of his body.  This guy had yellowish dorsal fins and a very large blue stripe running down his flank. 

Photo Courtesy of John Hoover

   Much of the information that follows comes form John Hoover's Ultimate Guide, including the photo for which he has kindly given permission.  As it turns out, the ewa blenny is variable and some of this is based on age.  The juvenile, like the juvenile Hawaiian cleaner wrasse, has a big blue stripe and it is smaller than the adult, although, in my extremely limited experience, still 50% larger than Gosline's fanged blenny.  The latter is seen commonly at shallow depths in places like Kahalu'u.  These blennies actually attack fish, nabbing a scale or two, so that blue stripe is probably a bit of mimicry.  A smart fish chooses to be cleaned but eschews a predatory nip.

    I wouldn't have been able to snap a photo on this single successful dive, even if Charles hadn't had the camera.  He attempted photos of the flame angelfish for ten minutes, while I waited patiently for the ewa blenny to reappear. It never did.  Obviously, I was extremely lucky to get one look.  Here you see a photo of the page in John's book. The fish we saw at Mahukona was much like the top photo.  The juvenile at Ho'okena was the blue stripe juvenile, second from the top. 

     We have waited a while to add a fish to the Ho'okena list and it is appropriate that it is one that should only appear at diving depths. 

   On the bottom of the photo you see Gosline's fang blenny.  This is an exceptionally deceiving picture.  This fish is usually seen from the top, appearing very long and skinny, like a Virginia Slims cigarette.  And as I mentioned above, they alternately straighten like the tobacco product, and then wiggle the aft two thirds of their body.  This wiggle, mildly reminiscent of that employed by some beach girls here in Kona, may be an attempt to lure a fish into scale nipping range. 

   So. Do I win the MCP award or what? Never fear...Me Too is on this.

   And as long as I have abandoned our subject, let me update you on our friend John Hoover.  He is being paid to go to Palmyra Reef in the eastern South Pacific.  Due south, way due south, of Hawaii Island.   Palmyra atoll is one third of the way from Hawaii to Samoa.  The atoll has been purchased by the Nature Conservancy and John has been

Wait a minute!  You mean I have to compete with this guy?  I don't stand a chance.

hired to create an app for the animals in the refuge.  I assumed that he was creating the app for someone to use.  If so was the Nature Conservancy opening up this far flung atoll to tourism?  Here is his reply:

   "The Nature Conservancy uses Palmyra to raise money from their very wealthy donors. It costs about 50K to go there for a week and stay at the little research station. The app would be for them. I don’t think there are any plans for tourism. No facilities for that, for one thing." 

   This time you got a fish story, a biology lesson and a glimpse at how the ecologically sensitive  other half lives.   Happy New Year from the land of bikini clad hau'oli girls.  Snort, snort.

jeff