Kawaihae with the DeLukes

    Supposing that one needs to get off the rock once or twice a year, but yet is a great lover of the ocean and its inhabitants, what could be better than to be picked up at KOA by some like minded friends, taken to the beach for some superb snorkeling and then have lunch alfresco in the shade by

Gail DeLuke with her trusty TG 5.  Nudibranchs ahoy!

the sea?  That is the sweet deal that Sandra and I fell into two days ago.

   Our friends and house exchangers, Gail and Martin DeLuke, nabbed us and our not insubstantial baggage a bit before 9:30 and we were at Kawaihae around 11.  We had been in contact with the Godfather of Kawaihae, the redoubtable Hai On, and he had assured us that the critters were still in the harbor, so we were primed for an exciting snorkel.

    There was one unfortunate note in this otherwise well timed symphony: for the second year in a row Martin had developed ear problems and was not fit to go snorkeling.  Perhaps this proves that well traveled adage that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him put alcohol in his ears.  In any event, Gail assured us, she enjoyed snorkeling more than Martin and that he was just as happy camped out on the shore.  It was a glorious Hawaiian morning, so maybe that was the case.

Wire Coral Goby   Kawaihae Harbour 2019   Photo Gail DeLuke

    For our first snorkel, Sandra felt more comfortable swimming around the pylons, as opposed to climbing down a cliff, swimming across the harbor and snorkeling under the wharf.  And so, the three of us launched from the landing craft ramp and headed out to the first pylon.  The first thing that we noticed was that the water was a lot warmer than when we left.  The internet said it should be 80 degrees, I would put it a couple degrees higher.  And the water was clearer than we had ever seen it.

Brushy Bryozoan.  The marine equivalent of a tumbling tumbleweed.

    Ominously, perhaps, the marine soup was completely devoid of plankton.  We noticed a few months ago when the plankton was gone, so were many of the unusual organisms that make Kawaihae so special.  had we hauled or friends up here in vain?

   No matter how mnay times the three of us circled it, the first pylon yielded very little.  And so we swam out to number two.  Almost immediately, Sandra found a gloomy nudibranch, resplendent in his sable and blue livery.  We all enjoyed a look, Gail took her first nudibranch picture, and the pressure was off.  A bit after that Gail found the yellow and white trembling nudibranch hanging on to some suspended foulings.  We would see several more gloomies (not to be confused with Goonies) but this was the only trembling.  Given its acrobatic position on a trapeze made of gunk, it was not the best example of this species from a photographer's standpoint.  But Gail found it herself and I think she was justifiably proud. 

    Those are the only two species of nudibranchs that Sandra and I have found on our own on the

A juvenile trumpetfish serves as a foil for an encrusted rope.

platforms.  While we continued to look for the delightful sea slugs, our attention now shifted to what else might be around.  On the makai side of platform two, I showed Gail a pair of wire coral gobies.  Under the platform we all enjoyed a clump of a branching animal that looked as much like a tumbleweed as anything else.  You can see my best photographic effort here.  In John Hoovers critter book, the closest thing seems to be the alliteratively named brushy bryozoan, which he notes is common in harbors in these very Sandwich Islands.

    Beside a column supporting the second platform, I spotted a juvenile trumpetfish doing his best to imitate a rope.  Trumpetfish are among the most successful of fish that capture smaller fish for their dinner.  To accomplish this predatory feat, they are great imitators.  One of Sandra's favorite marine associations involves a large yellow trumptetfish sequestered in a school of hebivorous yellow tang.  To our eye, the trumpetfish

The Kieki of the Milletseed Butterflyfish    Kawaihae Harbour June 2019

stands out...it looks nothing like the tangs.  The color match, however, is uncanny and the strategy must work.  Some of those tang loving trumpets are monsters.

    Last year we spotted a small juvenile scribbled filefish imitating a rope on the same platform.  Filefish eat a variety of sessile prey, sponges, algae, etc, so the hunting benefit probably did not apply.  It was interesting, though, that these two unrelated juvenile fish were applying their cryptic skills to algae covered rope on the second platform.

    The third pylon yielded a couple feather duster worms, thus completing the wish list that we had presented to Gail.  On the rip rap beside the jetty, I found a gloomy relatively out in the open.  On this day the gloomies were out in force, but this was the first nudibranch at Kawaihae that we had seen not associated with a pylon.

The kieki milletseed butterfly with his playmate, a toddling kole.

    We then headed across the makai side of the harbor to look for cup coral.  On the way, I happened upon a juvenile milletseed butterfly.  Milletseeds are fairly regular at Kawaihae, but this was the first baby millletseed of my long and storied career.  It was a life species for our guest and at first she thought it was something else...she had no search image out for milletseed butterfly.   Gail has a fair amount of experience snorkeling in Kona, so it just goes to show how rare milletseeds have become.  Even when they were common at snorkeling depth, the kiekis must have been rare (because the Redoubtable SKG and your hmble correspondent never saw one!)  As is the case with many juvenile butterflies, this guy was a bit more square in profile than the adult.  In addition, the black spot on the caudal peduncle, so prominent in adults, was barely noticeable.

Ebony and Ivory.  The pair of feather dusters at the base of the Kawaihae ramp.

   Like most juvenile butterflies, this little guy played a game of hide and seek around the coral rubble, making photography a pleasant challenge.  For me, this was a treat comparable to playing with a new puppy.

    At this point Sandra headed back to the ramp and Gail and I headed across the harbor to see the dwindling colony of cup coral.  Luckily there were a few of these orange beauties for her to admire.

  As we approached the ramp, we saw that Sandra and Martin had a friend, the Godfather himself.  We greeted Hai from the water and he instructed us to look at the base of the ramp where there were two feather duster worms living side by side. One was dark brown, burnt Sienna if you will, and the other was snow white.  They make a pretty pair.  Unless I am mistaken, these represent a different species from the feather dusters we see out on the pylons.  The feathers are much more delicate, tapered at the tips.

The Justice for the Fishes League.  Hai, Sandra and Martin.

    Once ashore, as advertised, we had our picnic in the shade and enjoyed the good company and the view of our beautiful island.  I wish you could have been there.

jeff