Alexander "The Crab" Haig

    Alexander Haig was a military man who rose through the ranks and ascended into the the heady world of national politics.  Although he went on to serve President Reagan, he is best known for his tenure as Chief of Staff to Richard Nixon.  It is likely that in this capacity he convinced Nixon to

resign.  During the last four months of the Nixon presidency things got a little hectic around the West Wing and one afternoon Haig confided to a group of reporters, "As of now, I'm in control here in the White House." Those few words stand as Haig's enduring legacy.

    By comparison with our current impeached potentate, those were halcyon days.  One thing is for sure, any aide who suggests to the Donald that leaving office might be the best thing for the country will find himself on the next bus to Hoboken.  If you want to work in this White House, best if you are a toad or a lackey, certainly not a wanna be Al Haig.  Along similar lines, if the Republican party

Snowflake Moray Eel,  Kahalu'u,  February 2020

had rallied behind Nixon (as the pusillanimous Republican solons have supported Trump)  he almost certainly would have survived.  And there would be no Gerald Ford Presidential Library.

    It is a little known fact that Haig, while stationed in Viet Nam, became an avid snorkeler and developed a life long fascination with hermit crabs.  All of which is a sneaky way of leading you into today's blog. 

    As I finished the last blog, in which I made excuses for staying out of the ocean, I found myself in a sea of shame.  That very afternoon I made it down to the pier, where the water was far less cloudy than I expected, given the excellent surfing conditions.  There were a fair number of fish; I saw all the common butterflyfish and an illusive saddle back butterfly, as well.  Nothing blog-worthy, but a very pleasant swim.

Haig's hermit crab,  Kahalu'u  February 2020

     It was great to be back in the water and so, with the surf diminishing, yesterday I went to Kahalu'u.   It was a beautiful winter day with a blue sky and cool, clear water.  Out in the bay, I immediately got an intimate look at a snowflake moray.  He let me dive down and take a picture only a few inches from his snout.  Good eel!  As the coral dies, some species are experiencing the dwindles.  The eels, on the other hand,  seem to be holding their own.

    A short distance away, down in a coral crevice, I spotted a handsome shell, possibly a knobby triton, heavily encrusted with pink coralline algae.  I plucked it from its niche and positioned it, hoping for a hermit.  I was so pleased when after a minute or two, out popped a Haig's hermit crab.  With purple legs and eye stalks, Calcinus hagae is extremely easy to identify.  I encounter this crab infrequently, maybe one crab every three or four years, so it is always an unexpected treat.  This guy waved his purple legs about and we rewarded his histrionics by putting him and his pink home back into the coral.  Be safe my friend.

   I swam further out, into a patch of healthy Evermann's coral.  There, crawling up the side of a coral, I found another hermit.  This fellow was sufficiently exposed that I did not need to move him to get his picture.  Diving down, I secured a handhold under the lip of a nearby coral.  He was positioned in such a way that I couldn't get a very good look with my eyes.  I suspected that it was one of the more common species of dark Calcinus hermits,  hidden or Hazlett's seemed most likely.

Haigs hermit waves his arms, Kahalu'u  2020

     In situations like this, the camera does all the heavy lifting, assuming conditions are such that the photographer can hold still.  On this day, Kahalu'u was giving up without a fight; there were no waves and no current.  I didn't get a chance to examine the result until I returned to shore.  As you can see, here is a second Haig's hermit crab.  This time the TG 5 outdid itself and the photo is in perfect focus.  This hermit is living in a top shell handsomely encrusted in dusty rose. 

    This points out a curious phenomenon.  Haig's hermit crab is far from a common species.  I doubt that I have seen one at Kahalu'u before.  And suffice it to say that in the last thirty years I have looked at a plethora of hermit crabs in K Bay.  So, why two on the same morning?  I believe that there is some physical signal that activates a given species...suddenly the time is right to get active, put yourself out there, look for some action.  Whatever it may be, it is species specific.  How lucky I was to be there when the Haig hermits received their signal.

jeff

Haig's Hermit Crab.  Calcinus hagae  K Bay 2020