Wendy and the Eye Spot Shrimp

   Last Friday we treated Peter and Marla to an Aloha Nui Loa brunch.  Sandra prepared poached salmon and a lovely pasta salad and Costco provided cheeses and croissants.  Now, for those of you who don't live in the land of the kanaka, aloha nui loa, means good bye, adios, see ya later and our friends are headed back to SLO, which I have learned is the accepted abbreviated handle for San Luis Obispo and environs.  They leave tomorrow, are going to stay five weeks and hope to purchase their

The Eyespot Shrimp, Kawaihae 2020  photo Hai On

next home.  In California.  Far away.  Bummer.

   Towards the end of our sumptuous meal, while Peter and I were working our way through my sweetie's pineapple upside down cake, he asked if we had seen his blog about the psychedelic shrimp.  Well, our days in the land of psychedelics are over, but we can still look at the shrimp, which in actuality is known as the eyespot shrimp.  So as it evolved, this was not a farewell banquet... the relationship would survive at least until Monday when we would reconvene at Kawaihae for a look at the psychedelic shrimp.

   So it was that yesterday, a few minutes before 9:00, Schmoopie and I arrived at the surf park at Kawaihae harbor.  As I was buttoning my shirt and heading off across the car park to greet Hai and Lottie, a lady pulled up behind our faithful Honda.  She was driving a shiny red Toyota and wore a

Peter guided us to a most prolic cauliflowerr coral

big smile.  She actually waved at me.  Not only that, but she followed me over and we greeted Hai and each other at the same time.  Her name was Wendy and my name was....well, you already know who I am.   Hai, whose excellent picture of the eyespot shrimp you see above, was already tending his garden.  He has planted zucchini, a succulent that is bursting with pretty red flowers, and

honeydew melons.  There were, nestling among all that greenery, seven or eight maturing melons, each perfectly smooth, pale green and full of promise.  They were just larger than a softball and  I commented to Hai that he would soon be the inadvertent purveyor of Midnight Melon.  If the citizenry can walk off with the pineapples growing in the planter at the Methodist Church, what hope lives for the melons in Hai's absence?  He said I could have a melon or two when they got ripe and I volunteered to bring him something in trade.  He suggested a lemon tree!  I countered with a red ginger, which I am much

  Haig's Hermit Crab stand forth for the Huskies. Kawaihae July 2020

better at propagating than lemon trees.

   About the time that this theoretical bartering reached its curious conclusion, Peter and Marla drove up.  Suddenly things started coming together. Wendy is their friend and swimming companion from Mahukona.  She had come down to Kawaihae just a couple times to swim with them and, in the natural way of things, met Hai and Lottie.  Now she had met us and we were all going shrimp watching together.   As had Marla departed for a brisk walk while the four of us, in full snorkeling regalia, headed down to the harbor.  As we walked, Peter allowed that the shrimp was far from a sure thing, which shrimp being furtive, didn't exactly surprise me, although it was disappointing.

    We swam east about one hundred yards to arrive at the single coral head where this unusual shrimp has been seen.  Peter dove down on the coral, about four feet below the surface, and looked between

A Red Spottted  Guard Crab defends his coral.  Kawaihae 2020

the leaves.  I followed his example and saw no shrimp, for a moment I was eye to eye stalk with a Haig's hermit crab.  With its purple legs, Haig's Hermit Crab stirs the  Husky Spirit that is always simmering just below the surface. and just this week we learned that the Huskies will play their PAC 12 schedule.  Curious  tidings in these unsettled days of Covid 19.  But I digress.

   Peter did not find any shrimp, which didn't seem to surprise him at all.  At this point Marla swam up and she, along with our two erstwile companions, departed.  Sandra and to remained to look some more for the shrimp and also for other crustaceans living in that large pocillipora coral.  In addition to Haig's, we found a convex crab and a red spotted guard crab living in the depths of that single coral.

When two Painted Nudibranchs bill and coo like this.. Kawaihae, Juny 2020 

   With all of crustaceans safely documented, Sandra and I headed across the harbor to the platforms.  On the way I found a large gloomy nudibranch cruising the surface of a rock about ten feet down. 
At the platforms, Schmoopie got to choose and she decided we would start our exploration on the
middle platform.  She made an excellent choice, as on the mauka side she found a pair of painted nudibranchs, presumably in the process of making the two headed mollusc.  These were good sized painteds, just under two centimeters in length.

    We had been swimming for about an hour and Sandra was thinking it was time for her to start heading in.  Everyone likes companionship when they are swimming so I talked her into joining me at the third platform.  Sandra chose the sunny mauka side and I started working from pillar to pillar on the shady ocean side.  About halfway along I peered around a pillar and was face to face with a juvenile scribbled filefish.  He was handsome guy about nine inches in length hanging vertically

The young scribbled filefish strikes and odd pose.  Kawaihae 2020

against the pillar just below the surface.  I called to Sandra and she swam around.  I didn't want to scare it away, so I waited until Sandra got there.  She took a look and then I looked.  The filefish had begun swimming across the space under the platform.  It was now about six feet away, still perfectly vertical, but now mostly a silhouette in the bright, cloudy water.   So minimal were his movements that it was impossible for me to tell what the source of the locomotion might be. Regardless, he achieved the opposite side and snuck behind one of the giant fenders that just reach the water at high tide.

   It didn't look like we were going to get a good picture, but we swam around the platform where  Sandra found the filefish hiding in a clump of debris.  He tried his best to stay out of sight, but I was

The Banded Coral Shrimp Kawaihae July 2020

able to squeeze in a few shots, most of which were not well focused.  The best of them is this odd picture of him lying flat in the water.  His ventral side is towards you and that's his eye you see protruding above the body.  An odd photo to be sure.  Soon he completely disappeared and Sandra and I headed towards the shore.

  As we completed a quick look around the first platform I heard a voice, "Oh.  Its Jeff and Sandra."
Wendy and Peter had arrived just as Sandra headed for the beach.

   We took another spin around the platform, and by diving down, Peter found a banded coral shrimp hiding on the back side of the pillar.  He did this by diving down about ten feet. At that level a larger portion of the column was placed on top of a post with a slightly smaller diameter.  This left a ridge upon which one could achieve a hand hold.  From this position underwater he was able to peer round the inside of the column and, voila, there was the shrimp.  He had to dive an extra time and point, but I finally saw the shrimp and took a couple pictures.

   Then it was Wendy's turn.  Peter probably did not use the word "beast" when describing the diving ability of this little Japanese lady with the nice smile, but he could have without a smidgen of inaccuracy.  She dove down with ease and got her photo.

   After we all had a chance with the shrimp, I led the way out to the third platform where the keiki

Peter found a  tiny decorated nudibranch on the second platform.

filefish waited.  As I arrived, I spotted the fish immediately.  He was about four feet down.  I called Wendy and she swam over and dove down for a picture.  Unfortunately, as she was getting her picture the filefish was heading for the bottom.  By the time it was my turn he was about ten feet down and sinking.  Suffice it to say my picture was not what I had hoped for.  The fish continued to the bottom and by the time Peter arrived he was not to be found.

   On the way back in we stopped at the second platform where Peter found a small gloomy and a tiny decorated nudibranch, about half a centimeter in length.   This guy was about four feet down, and it was difficult getting down to that depth in the tiny amount of space between  the encrusted pillars. 

   Before I hit the beach, I stopped at the first platform for one last try at the banded coral shrimp.  A bit of hydrobatics made for a good shot of a wonderful animal.

   For the second time in a row at the harbor I had seen three of the four common nudibranchs. 

Wendy moves in for a shot at a nudibranch.

Pairing this with four worthy crustaceans if made for a heck of a day.

   After showering off we bid Peter and Marla a bon voyage.  Between their trip and the obligatory two week quarantine on their return it will be the better part of two months until we snorkel with them again.  Hopefully in the meantime we can take another whack at that eyespot shrimp.  And with any luck at all, we might shoot for the first star to the right and head straight out to Mahukona for a dip with our new friend.   Wendy.

jeff

The second attempt at the Banded Coral Shrimp.