The Revenge of the Church Lady or The Dolphins of Ho'okena

   Late last week we were visited by the church lady.  Not the character acted to universal acclaim by Dana Carvey, but a lady from the Lutheran Church.  Jessica had visited us twice before.  As kupunas in the age of Covid-19, we might be lacking for companionship, or possibly adequate nutrition.  On

Everyone needs a visit from the church lady.  Especially if she brings bananas.

previous visits she had brought bananas, papayas and avocados and also a few truly peculiar quasi-edibles:  Dill that tasted like grass, Hawaiian spinach and a large off white tuber that one could slice into his salad.  It had the crunchy consistency of a radish but no discernible flavor.  This time she brought us two large donuts.

   Jessica is actually a really neat lady.  She is a grade school administrator, sings like an angel and is a sought after French horn virtuoso.  If you search for the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Kona web site, you can hear (and see) Jessica sing.  She is really good and it might help you get to sleep in these troubled times. 

A pair of spinners head to the surface.

    "Isn't that special?" you ask rhetorically, "But what does it have to do with fishwatching?"  Well, on her last visit to Casa Ono Jessica was admitted to the museum that doubles as our guest bathroom and admired, most especially, the moorish idol.  Having her preference in hand, I created an idol for her (She being a good Christian I was confident that she would not start worshiping it.) and we gift
wrapped the sculpture in a Kirkland brie cheese container.  Thus, as she sat at the other end of the long table on our lanai sipping her ice tea, the conversation turned to snorkeling.  She volunteered that she had begun stand up paddle boarding in the Inner Harbour at the pier and on her last outing had paddled with dolphins.  She was so close that her husband, sitting at the end of the pier, had taken a video of Jessica and and the dolphins, which she showed us on her phone.

   Well, it had been a darn long time since I had swum with dolphins and that little video got me Jonesing for a trip to one of the sites south where this was possible.  Hence, yesterday morning,

A black and white portrait of the same pair of spinners.

bright and early, the Redoubtable SKG and I headed south to Ho'okena.

   It was a bright sunny morning in Kailua but by the time we made it to Honaunau it was a high overcast.  It was early, about 8:30, and the parking lot had only a few cars.  During tourist season, which is scheduled to begin in three weeks,  the lot would be full at that hour.  

   Figuring that we could reduce our covid exposure by using our own chairs instead of the picnic table, we set up right behind the knee high sea wall in the picnic area.  Looking out into the bay, I was just able to make out a dolphin or two roughly 150 yards away. As I watched, a single swimmer set out from the far end of the beach. In pre-virus days, even at this early hour, it would have looked like the start of the Ironman, with multiple bodies hitting the water and swimming furiously towards the dolphins.

The Redoubtable SKG is in hot pursuit. 

   After donning our snorkeling outfits, schmoopie and I were soon at the far end of the beach where the water was cool and only tiny waves ran up onto the sand.   We swam out for five minutes, looking occasionally at a pair of swimmers who we assumed were communing with the dolphins.  We didn't
actually see any dolphins, though, and as we got close the swimmers headed back in.  I was swimming as they passed but they said good morning to Sandra. 

   So there we were, all by ourselves and a fair distance off shore.  We waited for several minutes, riding the gentle swell and wondering aloud if the dolphins had left.  Suddenly, a young dolphin leaped about fifteen yards further out.  So off we went, next stop Japan.  After a dozen strokes I surfaced and Sandra yelled "Left!"  There I saw three dolphins on the

This is my pod, buster.  Spinner dolphins, Ho'okena,  July 2020

surface only five yards away.

   The next ten minutes were pure joy.  The dolphins came to us surfacing close by several times.  In all the pod had just under twenty individuals.  It was broken up most of the time and the group that was swimming near us contained twelve.  The animals looked healthy with no active cookie cutter shark lesions.  Knowing what to look for, it was easy to see where such lesions had healed.  We saw only one juvenile.  Late in our visit we were approached by a slightly larger dolphin who had a lighter cast.  He gave me good, hard look. 

   The virus has mostly caused misery, but here on the Big Island it has provided moments like these.  Under normal circumstances it would be unimaginable for us to swim with the dolphins all by ourselves.  As above, our peace and personal safety are scheduled to come to an end on the first of August.

Potter's Angelfish, Ho'okena, July 2020

   The rest of our swim was really nice.  We saw only usual suspects, but that included a big bad bridled triggerfish, gilded triggerfish and Potter's and Flame Angelfish.  Ho'okena brings usual suspects to a higher level.

   As we came ashore we enjoyed a six year old boy playing in the sand under the watchful eye of his young parents.  A great end to our wonderful visit to Ho'okena.