A Return to Action

Editor's note.  Expert opinion suggests that the turtle seen and described in this blog is a hawksbill turtle.  This just goes to show: a) what a dilettante I am. and b) How difficult it is to tell these turtles apart.  I hope you enjoy the diatribe, this disclaimer may make it even more amusing.

Last week your humble correspondent was rendered hors de combat by his dermatologist.  While excising a dime size basal cell from the back of my right knee, we discussed the chemotherapy that she was recommending I apply to my scalp.  Somehow I didn't realize that the recovery period from that ointment might be considerably longer than healing my excision.  And that premature exposure

A Red Labrid Wrasse is always a pretty sight.  Kahalu'u  July 2020

to the sun could result in a ferocious burn.  Perhaps I didn't pay careful attention.

    I still have a bit of an unsightly rash on my bald pate and forehead, but affairs of state must take precedent over affairs of state and so, figuring that the early morning sun is less harmful than that at noon (mad dogs, Englishmen and all that crap)  I went snorkeling this week on consecutive mornings.

   Wednesday I hit the water at Kahalu'u just after 7:30.  The water was clear, pleasantly cool and depressingly devoid of interesting fish and critters.  I saw one red labrid wrasse which, if not terribly unusual, is quite attractive and, as this fellow was cooperative, you get a gander at his candy-striped portrait.

The Green Sea Turtle  Kahalu'u July 2020

   The only other thing of interest, besides the thriving coral, was a small green sea turtle.  three ladies of a certain age were doing a recreational swim.  Just after they passed in front of me, one expostulated,"Irene!  Look at the turtle!"  A few minutes later, the turtle swam right up to me.  From a certain perspective, such a turtle may be the most dangerous animal in the bay.  The turtle is unlikely to eat you like a tiger shark, but if the turtle, of its own volition, swims withing ten feet of you, someone is bound to get their fanny in a frizzle. 

     I may write another turtle blog in the near future, dealing with respiratory physiology.  That is a timely topic, given the pulmonary implications of the pandemic.   For now, I would like to say a word about nomenclature and the respective beaks of the green and hawksbill turtles.  It is my contention that the person who named the hawksbill turtle must never have seen a hawk. The green sea turtle has a bill like a hawk and the so called hawksbill turtle has a bill like a woodpecker.  Or possibly a pair of kitchen scissors.   If you are planning on being a law flaunting, snorkeling tourist here in the month of August, this pearl may come in handy.

A school of black durgons fight over a small jack.

   Thursday I went swimming at the pier.  There was a ton of recreational swimmers and the cubby for storing gear was full to the brim.  Out in the water, at about 8:30 on this lovely morning, the action was furious.  There are no submarine rides or parasailing currently, so it was far safer on the outer side of the swim buoys.  Those recreational swimmers can be as terrifying as sea turtles.

   Peacefully swimming on the outside, I dove down to look at a coral and saw a number of tiny red pencil urchins growing in a fenestrated chunk of dead coral.  I had never seen such tiny red pencil urchins before.  Some would have fit inside a dime!  Sadly, the picture I took of these didn't turn out and I was unable to find that particular dead coral again.  Suffice it to say, there are a large number of dead corals to choose from.

Another durgon takes a bite of his prize.  Kailua Pier July 2020

   I had a nice swim without seeing too much.  As I was heading for home, looking for that coral with the tiny urchins, I became aware of some furious activity.  A small school of black durgons had got hold of a bait fish, perhaps a big eye scad, and, like a pack of dogs, were taking turns ripping the fish from the mouth of the current owner, presumably getting a bite of fish and then losing it to a pursuer.  I took pictures and came up with two where you can see this unusual behavior.

   John Hoover says that triggrfish are omnivorous, eating algae, plankton and small crustaceans.  He says nothing about durgons eating whole fish.  In previous blogs, when commenting on the bait ball, an enormous school of big eye scad that is frequently found near the pier, I have noted that a group of black durgons has been nearby.  I had thought that they might be herding the bait ball away frpm nests, but really I had no idea.  After this observation it seems likely that they were hoping to pick up a vulnerable scad, perhaps one that had been injured by a charging ulua.

Coming soon from Disney!   Dancing With Durgons

    Depending on who they can get to play the lead, Disney Studios is planning a major motion picture based on this newly discovered bit of  biology.  It will either be Never Cry Triggerfish  or Dancing With Durgons.

   At the end of my swim, just inside the first swim buoy, I entered a dark greenish cloud.  We have heard
of an algae bloom occurring near the pier.  On shore I heard a knowledgeable lady remark that the algae bloom is occurring all along the coast in the presence of fresh water.   With all the rain we have been getting, there must be a surfeit of fresh water springs.

   Saint that she is, Sandra arrived promptly with the car, assuring that my hideous scalp got as little direct sunlight as possible.  With any luck I'll be good as new in no time.

jeff