A Scouting Trip to Kawaihae

    Yesterday morning I awoke early and gave my upper lip a careful shaving, the better to secure a proper mask fit.  My son Charles, a connoisseur of facial hair, names this treatment a Salvador Dali.  I can live with that.

   Following the barbering I spent twenty minutes loading a variety of limbs into the trunk of the car. 

Juvenile Pale Tail Unicornfish,  Kawaihae   February 2020

Those branches had had the temerity to brush against the house.  In a particularly clever maneuver, Sandra and I extended the pole cutter through our bathroom window to prune a larger trunk that was otherwise in a difficult position..  Our marriage is based on team work and creativity.  And cheap red wine and Costco muffins.

   Our arrival at the transfer station was carefully timed. So popular is the yard debris depository, that if one does not arrive before 7:45, he risks waiting in line for an hour.  This early arrival afforded Sandra the opportunity to meet Jackie, my new best friend and the auntie of the early morning transfer station.  Jackie is old Hawaii; her grandfather emigrated from Portugal and worked as a paniolo.   And she is full of aloha.  

   We enjoyed a group hug and then wandered back to the venerable Honda to wait for the enormous

Christmas Tree Hydra on Platform One  Kawaihae 2020

Hawaiian to open the yard debris at 8 AM.  Or when ever he got around to it...his massive girth being matched in dimension only by his passive aggressive nature.

   Finally we were on our way, north to Kawaihae.  We are anticipating the arrival of that fish finding

wizard, Bob Hillis, and his lovely wife Kim in only a couple days.  He has been reading all about Kawaihae here in the blog and is eager to see a few nudibranchs for himself.  Considering how stormy it has been of late, the day was not half bad.  We enjoyed a fine view of the snow atop the sacred mountain, Mauna Kea.

   We had correctly gauged the low tide and did not need to ford the flood as we drove beside the harbor.  At about 9 AM we were parked beside the sweet little park.  First things first, I was dispatched to check out the seaside shower.  Miracle of miracles, the water has been restored.  I watched with glee as the shower water was carried away in the steady south easterly breeze.

    As I returned to the car an especially vicious gust picked up the dust from the drive and blew it in a sand blasting cloud out to sea.  Luckily we had the Honda parked behind the trees and so we were not exposed to the sand blasting.  Never the less, Sandra asked, "Are you sure you want to go

Decorated Nudibranch with a good look at the foot.

swimming?"

    Well, hell yes!  Soon enough we were swaddled in our neoprene and over by the harbor where I placed our slippers behind a small eroded ridge and buried them in a mound of coral fragments, simultaneously uttering a prayer to the Great God Ku that he leave our footwear alone for the duration of our swim.  Good Ku.

    As expected, the water was cold and the wind was whipping across the harbor.  Just as we started our swim, a  young hau'oli fisherman walked out on the breakwater exposed by the low tide.  We have seen people fish here before, but always from  shore.  Walking out on that tenuous rip rap seemed especially sporting of the young piscator.  Thoughtfully, he left his small yappy mongrel on the boat landing pad to serenade us.

   Along the side of breakwater, we spotted a juvenile paletail unicornfish.  Not a world shattering find, but a nice little fish in his own right.  We swam over to the first platform where Sandra was pleased to see a pair of porcupinefish paddling between the pylons.  On the windward side of the platform , I spied a small group of Christmas tree hydroids that were especially nice.

   As we headed out to the second platform, I was pleased to see how quickly I made the swim.  This

A Juvenile Red Shoulder Tang Cruises Kawaihae

was not because I am the reincarnation of the psychically plagued Michael Phelps, but rather  because the wind was creating a considerable surface current.  If one simply floated he was moved at the rate of about ten feet a minute in a north northwesterly direction.

   On the second platform I spotted a tiny decorated nudibranch.  Hai and Lottie have been good teachers and I was able to pick up on this minuscule mollusc, just bigger than a self respecting match stick.  As we were on the lee side of the platform there was less bounce and current and I nabbed one nicely focused picture.  This picture shows well the foot of the tiny critter.  No wonder the nudis are known a sea slugs.   Mr. Wikipedia tells us that all gastropods, be they terrestrial or marine, produce slime.  Obviously it is easier to see the slime of a terrestrial snail, as Donovan, back in the 60s, must have as the snail navigated his garden wall.   A snail that's what it is.  This, however, was a marine nudibranch and no matter how well we see the foot, I submit that his slime is not readily visible, even with the TG 5. As you look at the nudi, recall that the rhinophores are in front and the external gills are in the back,

A good picture of a pied brittle star courtesy of Keoki Stender

   Around on the windward side of number two, Sandra found a cute little tube worm.  The outlet of the tube was flattened and the worm itself was reddish.  Given the wind and the water movement, and the fact that it was just beneath the surface, I was having a Dickens of a time trying to get its picture.  As I turned around to get readjusted, the elements bumped me into the pylon and the worm retracted, never to be seen again. 
 
   The third platform was a bust and we swam back in and then headed east to the coral patch where a few weeks ago I saw the juvenile sailfin tang.  He was no longer there, at least we didn't find him.  Our efforts were rewarded with a bright yellow red shouldered tang juvenile bearing a fine red shoulder patch.  And, as  final treat, I got a life echinoderm.  I dove down examine an especially handsome cauliflower coral and noted the finger of a pied brittle star exploring the margin.  I was unable to get a good picture, mostly because the animal was tucked away, but I did get a good look at his pretty black and gold brush-like tentacle.  Sorta like one of those Japanese comic books, only colder and wetter.  To compensate for my inadequacies,

In lieu of another photo, a sign by the Kawaihae shower:  86 papio equals one 'omilu.

swiped a picture of a pied brittle star to satisfy your zoologic curiosities. Isn't it pretty?  As Mr. google says, these images may be copyrighted, so don't go taking any untoward liberties and I think we can all get along.

   Ashore, Sandra and I were enjoying a cold, windy shower, when who should drive up but Hai and Lottie.  With them, they had Hai's sister Poon and baby Naia.  While Sandra and I shivered uncontrollably, we said our hellos.  It sounds like Hai and Lottie are totally up for swimming with the Hillises in a few days and Sandra is more than eager to assume duties as auntie.  Tres Hawaiian, no?

jeff