Kawaihae to the Rescue

    It has been a while since I wrote a blog.  Sandra and I have snorkeled Kahalu'u three times in the last ten days, so its not like we weren't out there looking for something entertaining.  Its hard to write a blog featuring an arc eyed hawkfish, a pinktail triggerfish or a black durgon, no matter how many bright blue stripes he has on his forehead. 

Bright blue lines are nice, but are they blog-worthy?

 

   In the meantime, the Kailua pier is heading rapidly in the direction of inaccessibility.  That disgusting algae bloom on Ironman side of the pier had to be associated with a nitrogen source and the county has finally decided to do something about it.  They are repairing the sewer that runs under Palani as it passes in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel.  This involves turning the heart of downtown Kona into a flag controlled one way street.  Beginning with the last 50 yards of Palani, the lane closure rounds the corner at the pier and heads south down Alii Drive until it reaches Hulihee's Palace.   With the Corona virus running full throttle in the lower 48 and picking up steam in the Land of the Rising Sun, its not clear when the hotel will be permitted to reopen.  From the standpoint of guest accessibility, it would be very difficult to operate the hotel for the next month or so. 

   So what is a snorkeler to do?  With the surf up this week, heading south to Ho'okena or City of Refuge didn't seem like a good choice for us old folks, so yesterday Sandra and drove up to Kawaihae.

The tug and barge enter Kawaihae Harbor

  We had been going up there with some frequency as we dropped off yard debris at the Waikoloa transfer station on the way.  This was working out fine until about three weeks ago.  The green waste drop off at Waikoloa is a large lava field pounded more or less flat.  One backs up to the pile of leafy debris and disgorges their contribution thereupon.  On our last such venture our right front tire was punctured by several large bougainvillea thorns.  If you have never pruned a bougainvillea you may be unaware of those inch and a half, razor sharp thorns.  One hundred and sixty four dollars later, not to mention the pleasure of spending a couple hours in the Goodyear waiting room (and me without my MAGA hat), we decided that we would work with the paved facility here in Kona, regardless of the overcrowding. (To celebrate the Corona virus pandemic, Hawaii County has reduced operation at the Kealakehe green waste transfer station to three days a week, thus creating an hour wait for those who lack pluck and creativity.)

No wonder the teated sea cucmber is uncommon!

    On Friday we smiled and waved as we sped through Waikoloa.  We beat the weekend by a day and so at 9:30 on a cool, clear morning we had the facility mostly to ourselves.   At this hour the only other people present were two men and a lady wearing T shirts that proclaimed them to be Hawaii Island Stevedores.   As we approached the harbor, we had noted a pair of larger vessels off shore and speculated that a barge might be coming in. Is that what the stevedores were waiting on?

    We changed quickly and hit the water.  Initially we headed mauka along the beach front, swimming fifty yards in search of the coral head where in resides the psychedelic (aka eye spot) shrimp.  We did not find the special coral head or any flower power crustaceans, but as we made our turn to head back we were blessed with a water level view of the ocean going tug and the barge (which brings good things for girls and boys) making its way into the harbor.  If I were to get no other pictures on this day, at least I would

The gloomy nudi glides among the fouling organisms.

get a shot of Scuffy bringing Sandra her Dewars.  

   Actually, despite not finding Timothy Leary's shrimp, we did see some interesting invertebrates.  For starters, we saw three different cushion starfish.  This unusual animal has become so common in the last few years that when we see one it really isn't all that special.  Nevertheless, three in one day is at the minimum a testimony to what a good year it is for cushion starfish.

    More interesting was a very good look at a teated sea cucumber.  Not incredibly uncommon, this is still an interesting animal.  She was hanging out on the sand in about eight feet of cool cloudy water and, unless I am mistaken she had just produced that string of egg sacks that you see at what must be the south bound end of a north bound teated sea cucumber.  John Hoover tells us that this particular sea cucumber provides especially good trepang, also known as bêche-de-mer.  In Asia, but especially in Indonesia sea cucumbers are harvested, boiled and the resulting flesh smoked, creating this food product which is used to enhance the flavor of some dishes.  Wikipedia tells us that in some cultures trepang is considered to be a stimulant and an aphrodisiac.  In this way, the sea cucumber

A Trembling Nudibranch, Kawaihae august 2020.

can substitute for a dozen oysters, a gram of powdered rhino horn or even a helping cobra blood. 

    I don't know if he has ED, but I'm pretty sure that I recall Andrew Zimmer sampling cobra blood in a Vietnamese market.  Bizarre foods to be sure.  

     Having bid goodbye to that Artemis of holothurians, we made our way across the pond to  the platforms.  Right away we started finding nudibranchs.  On the middle platform we spotted a gorgeous gloomy more than two inches long.  By the time we were swimming out to the third platform, the tug had the barge secured to the wharf.  Fast work!

   Out on the third platform we found a trembling about five feet down on the mauka side and another rapped around a cable on the the shady ocean side.  On one of the inner pillars, Sandra found a painted nudibranch posed between orange and blue sponges.  One has to take into account the effect of the flash, which is to say that the colors you see here, while not altered, are more vivid than what we see with our eyes.  In any event, these are a couple of lovely pictures, if I do say so myself.  If any of you want to print them on aluminum and hang them over the living room sofa, you have my permission.  I might even be induced

A Painted Nudibranch Among Colorful Sponges,  Kawaihae August 2020

to come to your home and, over a glass of cobra blood, or some other beverage of your choosing, sign the art.  

     To top off our nudibranching, Sandra found another gloomy.  Five nudis and three species.  Another good day for nudibranchs at the harbor.

     On the ocean side of the third platform, the army had suspended an aluminum tube about an inch in diameter into the water, presumably to protect some  wires.  This metal tube was home to a veritable plethora of wire coral gobies.  I can still recall when our friend Hai directed me to a wire hanging in the water to find my first WCB.  It was quite a treat.  And it also sort of made sense that the goby would be attracted to the very object that gave its natural habitat its name...the wire in wire coral, as it were.  In this instance, the one inch metal tube did not resemble wire coral in the least. These tiny fish are plankton eaters, deserting their home for quick forays into the open water for a microscopic bite.  John Hoover suggests that there are usually only two gobies, a mated pair for each spot on a wire, or wire coral.  It is likely that this relative profusion of gobies constituted a hatch and these were mostly juveniles.

Coral Shrimp   Just Hangin' Around Upside Down at Kawaihae August 2020

    Finally it was time to head in.  Under the inner most platform we found a number of banded coral shrimp; one only needed to dive down about four feet, hang on to a knob of coral and look back up.  These shrimp are large and relatively patient.  I always enjoy looking at them, even if the experience approximates water boarding.

    Back ashore, the stevedores were still at the table whooping it up.  Now, however, there were several  families, picnic tables full of food, people fishing from the rocks and swimming with the aid of brightly colored tubes and mattresses.  With all these people around, we did our best to maintain social distancing while rejoicing in our delightful morning at Kawaihae.  

jeff

A second look at the Painted Nudibranch and Colorful Sponges.