Our Return to Kona

   Sandra and I had been away for 49 days, seven whole weeks, so I was eager to get back in the water and renew my acquaintance with with my salt water friends. So the day after our return,  I gathered my snorkeling equipment and we headed into Kailua to do a couple errands after which Sandra would

Carving the Pumpkin  Photo by SKG

drop me off at the pier.  As we were arriving at Walmart, where I was going to look for a cell phone
battery, it occurred to me that in the process of getting ready to snorkel, I had forgotten one thing; I was sporting a luxurious seven week growth of beard.  The Chinese lady in electronics seemed to take some perverse joy in telling me that you can't purchase lithium batteries on the island because the airlines refuse to fly them in.  I didn't ask her if there was anything she could do about the beard.

    I'm including a picture from our vacation mostly so you can appreciate the extent of my whiskers.  As it relates to snorkeling, of course.  I'm only showing you one grandfather picture ... I can almost here you sigh, "Thank God."  And don't be concerned about that worried look that Colsen is showering on the pumpkin.  No fingers were lost in the carving.

    Down at the pier it was sunny with a few fleecy clouds hovering in a blue sky.  Soon enough I was in the water, beard and all.  Fortunately, the ocean conditions were quite mild. As long as I didn't dive

The Kona Inn.  A Century of Tropical Hospitality.

(and emptied my mask every five minutes)  the snorkeling part went just fine.   The fish department, however, was deplorable.  Aside from a few large schools of adolescent Moorish idols there was zilch.  I swam across the bay as far as the Kona Inn without seeing an interesting fish.  Knowing that I have posted a number of pictures of the palace as seen from the water, I nabbed this photo of the Kona Inn.  The inn is another of our old iconic buildings and dates back to 1928 when it was built by the Inter Island Shipping Company as the first lodging for tourists here in Kona.  Remarkably, over all those years, it has remained about the same.  It is now the home to a few restaurants and a myriad of shops. As far as I know, lodging is unavailable.  Looking at this photo, perhaps you can imagine what it was like to arrive by boat here in Kailua Kona a century ago and spend a few nights looking out at the Hawaiian sea.

  Yesterday, in an attempt to find something fishy to write about, we went down to Kahaluu'u.  I had

had a thorough clipping and shave in the morning, so I was well prepared to don my snorkel mask.

A pair of cone shell hermit crabs, Kahalu'u November 2019

As at the pier, the water was cool, perhaps just above 80 degrees, and a little cloudy.  But to my delight there were lots of glorious fish.  Near shore I enjoyed a fine variety of the usual suspects,  As I headed out down the middle I found a coral where there were several encrusted cone shells.  Naturally I was hoping for an orgy of cone shell hermit crabs.  I'll bet that within a square meter there were at least five of these fascinating little animals. In one crevice I found what I took to be a mated pair, both of which were quite active.   Suffice it to say, I took a bunch of pictures, the best of which you see here.  Note the second crab, presumably a partner, to use the modern expression denoting an exclusive sexual relationship outside of state sanction. If the one of the crabs works at the DMV, where I'm sure you have encountered a plethora of crabs, is the second eligible for benefits?  Bureaucracy meets carcinology.  Only here at  the blog!

    One other biological tidbit:  Most hermit crabs undergo internal fertilization and those who have witnessed the event say it is more violent than an encounter between an NFL linebacker and his partner in a hotel elevator.

Our octopus gives you the fish eye.

   Only a little further out I swam past a brown fleshy thing and caught myself just in time.  What was that?  An odd sea cucumber?  Retracing my strokes, I discovered a medium sized octopus harboring in a coral depression.  Its possible that he was unable to retract further into the fenestration, but for whatever reason, he was quite patient with me. I worked with him for at least five minutes, and while he was hunkered down a bit, he appeared to be content to let me take my pictures at about five feet.  Good octopus!  As you see, his eyes on their stalks faced out and remained a rich chocolate brown while the remainder of his body filled in around with a creamy reticulated pattern.  It was remarkable and a first in my experience. 

   Eventually both of us had had enough and I swam away.  One might think that this was enough treats for one day, but as I made the turn over by the rescue shelter, I encountered a dragon wrasse.  Like the octopus, he, too, was of the chocolate variety and fairly patient.  While I was working on a hand hold, a peacock flounder swam

Dark chocolate eye stalks surrounded by the reticulated octopus mantle

beneath us.  What a treat.

   Ashore in the shower I met a nice lady from Georgia.  She was in Kona for her daughter's wedding at the Marriott, which I assume meant the Waikoloa Marriott not our dear old King Kam Hotel. Jeanine and I had a great chat encompassing the life guards with their loudspeaker, the crowd in the water (which was actually not that bad) and good places for her to look for fish around Waikoloa.  I regret that propriety prevented me from getting her picture, because she was quite a bit better looking than the octopus.  Which is a good thing and a great reason for an old dog like your faithful correspondent to spend the winter in Kona. 

jeff

Dragon Wrasse in the Kahalu'u Shallows  November 2019