Starting 2020 Off With a Pair of Eels

    High surf kept me out of the water for a couple days.  Yesterday I decided to go for it down at the pier, which is sometimes resistant to the water churning effects of high surf.  To avoid parking problems,  Sandra kindly dropped me off.  The weather was beautiful with fleecy clouds and a light breeze.  As I entered the water on the Ironman side of the pier, I was astonished to find that it was

The Kona Inn under a sunny winter sky.

virtually crystal clear.  Water like that is just begging for photography and I hoped that I would find something worthy of these outstanding conditions.

    On the way out, the number and variety of fish was sorta pathetic.  I made it out to the patch in front of the palace and took a panoramic shot of the Kona Inn replete with the aforementioned fleecy clouds.  Up to that point, this was the most interesting picture I had taken.  As I made my turn,  I headed for the third swim buoy. There I encountered this sweet medium sized surgeon, probably a teenage yellowfin.  If that is correct, this little fellow will grow up to be among the biggest of surgeonfishes.

Juvenile Yellowfin Surgeonfish, Kailua Bay january 2020

Just a few strokes from the buoy I hit pay dirt.

    When one is swimming over the sand, he has to remain alert. The sandy bottom is perforated with vents where fresh water from the mountain percolate into the bay. In addition,  interesting crabs, irregularly shaped urchins and flying gurnards call the sand home. Perhaps the most bizarre creature one finds in the sand is the freckled snake eel.  This odd fellow pokes his head up out of the sand and shoots water through his gills with a continuous gulping motion.  In doing so, he creates a little saucer shaped depression in the sand and if one looks carefully there is a bit of a sandstorm right around his head.  I had only seen a freckled snake eel once before, years ago.  Some people talk as if this an everyday occurrence for them...I have not been so lucky.

    As you may have guessed, quite near the third swim buoy in a mere ten feet of Kona Crystal was one of these puffing eels.  It was a good day for my fickle sinuses and I was able to dive to the bottom, hold on to rock and take a picture from about a foot away.  With all due modesty, this is a pretty good shot of a rare sea creature.  Note particularly his unusual eye.  It's possible that this is an adaptation for living a life primarily buried in the sand.

The Freckled Snake Eel. Kailua Bay January 2020

       A few dives down to the bottom and I was heading slowly back towards the beach.  Around the second swim buoy I encountered an undulating moray eel hunting through the coral.  This reddish eel is seen infrequently.  More important to the photographer, it is implicated in biting the unwary diver who puts his hand in the wrong spot.  Although I was happy to hang onto a rock near the snake eel, I

Undulated Moray Eel, kailua Bay January 2020.

was careful not to get too close to this beauty.  he was quite active and I watched him writhe around the corals for about five minutes.  When you look at this picture, you might take a careful look at the mouthful of sharp teeth.











    this week's advice: keep your fingers out of the eels mouth and have a happy 2020.

jeff