A Great Day at Kawaihae or Come the Tormenta

   Yesterday I went snorkeling at the pier.  The weather was cloudy and the water was cold, cloudy and utterly devoid of interesting animals.  Today we convened at Kawaihae Harbor at 9:30 in the

Not a fancy yacht, this vessel looks ready to ply her trade around the world.

morning.  At that moment there were fleecy clouds, albeit lots of them, scudding across the sky, propelled by a strong wind blowing out of the south east.  The sun was shining on us and the wharf across the bay.  Way over at the north end of the wharf was a large, rusty two masted sailing vessel.  There was no way to know what that boat was about, but its aura of mild neglect it was picturesque in a working nautical sort of way.

   Back at the little park, Peter and Marla and Hai had joined Sandra and I.  Soon, each clad in his own variation of neoprene, we were on our way across the parking lot.  At this point only a modest

Porcupinefish, Kawaihae Harbor, January 2020

amount of sand was carried by the wind.  The tide was out, so I entered off the tiny sandy beach at the mauka edge of the landing ramp.   I placed my dark glasses and ball cap atop my sandals at the high edge of the platform; the tide wouldn't rise that high in the next hour.

   The water didn't seem as cold as it was at the pier the day before, and although it was full of plankton, it was less cloudy than when Sandra and I were at Kawaihae a week or so earlier (when we saw the citron butterflyfish).  On our way out to the first platform, with the group still close together, we all got a good look at a large porcupine fish.  Porcupinefish are basically nocturnal, hence the huge eyes.  Thia also explains why, when you see one during the day, it is hiding deep under a ledge.  Here at Kawaihae, there is often one taking refuge under the first platform.  Ordinarily, when you find one out in the open, thy are quite skittish.  This fellow let me close to within six feet which explains this remarkably clear picture .  Don't you just love those spines?

    Before we started out, Peter had allowed that he had not seen a citron butterflyfish in Hawaii.  Hoping to find the fish that Sandra and I saw a week before, I made my way along the rip rap well

Painted nudibranch, first platform. taken with close up flash.

past the platform.  I did not find the Citron, and by the time I made it back to the platform Hai had already spotted a painted nudibranch.  This tiny creature was foraging among some algae growing among the branches of a cauliflower coral.

   Sandra and I have found our own nudibranchs on these platforms, but I always wonder, how many we have we missed.  This small nudi was about 2 cm long and 3 cm wide,  roughly the size of a third of a reefer...maybe not that big.  As I started my swim, I took a minute to readjust the camera to focus on what was in the middle of the field.  My Olympus T 5 seems determined to revert to the mode where it searches for the face in the picture.  If one wants to take quick, reliable pictures of tiny animals, it is imperative that you get the camera to focus on your object every time.  This picture, taken with the close up flash mode, would probably not have happened in the default setting (with which the camera seems to be in love.)  The second picture is taken without the flash.  Isn't it interesting how different the colors are captured by the camera?

    Our beginning experience with nudibranchs on these pillars favored the yellow and white

Painted nudibranch taken without flash.  January 2020.  Kawaihae Harbor.

trembling and the larger blue gloomy.  Now it seems that the painted is the most common.  I wonder if the fauna has changed or if we just weren't seeing the more cryptically colored painted nudibranch.

   You may recall that as we started our adventure, the skies were clear and the wind was brisk but steady from the south east.  In the short interval, the skies had darkened and the wind was picking up.  From the corner of the harbor, the southeast wind had a pretty good fetch to the mooring platforms with a resulting four inch chop, some bounce and a bit of surface current.  Perhaps as a consequence, in the process of getting those nudi pictures, I grazed my left knee on the pillar.  Ouch!

    We swam out to the second pillar where Marla had seen another painted nudibranch, but it was long gone.  From there on out, all we saw was a variety of sessile fouling organisms like sponges and hydras.  The good news was that, contrary to our most recent experience, there was a nicer variety of

Pink sponge under the second platform. Kawaihae, January 2020

sponges, both pastel and blue and pink, in addition to a couple types of orange.  You may notice, that on the admonishment of my invertebrate zoology gurus, I am no longer attempting to name the species based on color.  Which is not to say that they are not both interesting and beautiful.  In several spots the weed that coats the pillars was home to colonies of small white hydras.  They gave the initial impression that the pillar was coated with a fine bluish lint.

    We worked these two pillars for about twenty minutes.  Towards the end of this period, the sky darkened, the wind picked up and it started to rain.  If you are already swimming, rain is not that big a deal.  But then the wind picked up further, the size of the wavelets increase to about six inches and the tops of those wavelets were blown into our faces.  It was as if someone was shooting you in the face with a garden hose.   Sandra and I were blown up against the rip rap that backs the platforms, but it was no problem to fend off with our flipper covered feet.  This might sound fairly unpleasant.  In fact, this combination was unique in my experience and since we were in a safe spot, shielded with neoprene and face masks, it was sort of fun...in a strange sort of way.

Puffed up spotted toby and cleaner wrasse, Kawaihae January 2020

   After the squall passed, Sandra allowed that she was only a little cold, but as she wasn't seeing
anything new, perhaps she would be happier ashore.  I swam with her over to the ramp and watched her get out.  As I had a a bit left in the tank, I swam over to the coral about thirty yards east of the ramp.

   Right along the shore, the effect of the wind was mollified and the surface water was flat.  At first, I saw a few usual suspects, including a nice interaction between a cleaner wrasse and the Hawaiian spotted toby, canthigaster jacator.  I can't say why, but at Kawaihae it is usual to see this cute little fish all puffed up.  If you look carefully, you will notice that in this picture.

    A bit further along I saw a large red cushion starfish.  I have been told that a tiny octopus sometimes live on the ventral side of this strange starfish, which may be the most common starfish

Juvenile Sailfin Tang.  Kawaihae Harbor  January 2020.

found on the Big Island (its only competition for this title is the crown of thorns).  There was no octopus underneath, but a brittle worm scuttled away from the scene of the crime.

    After harassing the cushion star, it was time for me, too, to head for the beach.  As I passed over a finger coral, I saw below me a juvenile yellow tang, its fins in the locked up position.  Immediately, I saw it was accompanied by a darker fish of about the same small size with vertical stripes.  Was this a Klein's butterflyfish?  No.  It was a small juvenile sailfin tang.  I grabbed a couple quick pictures and managed to chase it into the coral.  Bummer.  I waited patiently for a couple minutes and the baby reemerged.  Now I was more cautious and I was able to close  within ten feet, getting these shots you see here.

    As I was taking pictures of the sailfin tang, I spied a small teardrop butterfly swimming over the top of the coral patch.  I turned and was able to get four quick shots before he swam away.  This fish wasn't tiny, perhaps half the size of an adult, but his coloration was clearly different.  Look how broad the black strip is at the back of the fins, just before the tail.  Also note how the tear drop is

Juvenile Teardrop Butterflyfish.  Note the broad black stripe. 

more rectangular and how the drip line is so dark and extends all the way ventral.  I had never seen one of these before and (I guess Peter is right, I am a fish geek) I found this little guy to be pretty exciting.

    The sailfin tang was still hanging around.  Perhaps she had become used to me, but I was able to get the best pictures of this encounter.  The little yellow tang was there as well.  Those two are the only members of the genus zebrasoma in Hawaii and perhaps they were reveling in their kinship.  Additionally, one might note that like the yellow tang, the juvenile of the sailfin tang seems to spend most of its time with those large fins erect, unlike the adult who rarely flashes that full fin profile.

    We reconvened ashore, showered and changed.  At the moment it wasn't raining, but the wind was blowing hard and we wondered it our planned picnic was a bust.  Luckily, Hai, who is virtually a resident at Kawaihae, knew of a secret hide away, where we able to dust off some sandy chairs, spread out a grass mat in lieu of a table cloth and enjoy a delightful New Years meal together.  Sandra supplied a loaf of home made bread, with butter and

As the storm rages outside, a New Year's picnic under cover.

mustard, and Peter contributed a stick of liverwurst he had brought back from the mainland.  Lottie was there in spirit, but she didn't get any liverwurst.

   Hai regaled us with a story of creating small wooden floats, surrounding candles with paper shields and setting them afloat to greet the new year.  This wouldn't do on this windy day, but as the storm raged outside, we committed to come together on a more clement evening, perhaps over by the canoe club on the north side of the harbor and set some candles afloat together.

 Hau'oli makahiki hou,
jeff

Happy New Year from Kawaihae !

We learned the word Tormenta in Buenas Aires when a particularly violent storm tried to rip the awning off our rented apartment.