The Tale of Liomera Tristis at Kahalu'u

     When you're playing cribbage, as Sandra and I do most every afternoon, the best you can do is hold for the run and hope that Lady Luck is on your side.  When it comes to snorkeling, the best you can do is get in the water as often as possible, be observant and, as in cribbage, hope that Lady Luck blesses your effort.

    Tuesday morning we showed up at Kahalu'u a bit before 9 AM.  While Yasuko was setting up the ropes and posting the admonitions (Don't step on anything!) I had a brief conversation with the boss, also known as Kathleen Clark-san, and then it was time to hit the water.  The tide was high enough that getting in was fairly painless, there was virtually no current  and the water was really clear.   

    Not too far out, I looked into a coral depression and saw a tiny xanthid crab.   John Hoover tells us that xanthid crabs are sometimes called dark fingered crabs, stone crabs or mud crabs.  Most are pedestrian in appearance and spend their lives in crevices or under rocks, so they are rarely seen.  

Liomera tristis,  Kahalu'u Bay, Hawaii Island April 2021

    This little crab, which was a mere 15 millimeters across his carapace, was very patient with me.  He permitted me to take four pictures over a couple minutes without moving a single one of those aforementioned  millimeters.  Either I was looking at the molted exoskeleton of a crab or, to paraphrase John Clease, he had ceased to be, he was bereft of life...he was an ex-crab.  Despite his apparent morbidity, and his being truly miniature, I could see that his walking legs were striped red and white, much like candy canes or the the stripes on the flag of our country.  (In foreign and domestic affairs may she always be in the right.  But our country right or wrong.  Stephen Decatur, loosely.)  As you can see, in addition to the stripes he does have dark fingers.

   The crab was well documented and one can only look at an inanimate object for so long, no matter how stripey, so I shoved off in search of other worthy critters and fish.  I turned over a couple shells, including this nice punctured miter, without coaxing any hermits to make an appearance. 

Punctured Miter sans hermit.  C'est domage.

    Towards the end of my swim I saw a pair of Achille's Tang and two female Pearl Wrasse.  Both pretty good species for Kahalu'u and I captured them in short video clips.  For those of you who prefer fish over crab, I am including those tasty morsels as a post script.  Finally, in the sand right outside the entrance was a large Reticulated Cowry.  As he wasn't moving, he did not rate a video.

    By this time, almost 10 AM, there we plenty of human bodies littering the rocky entrance, but soon I was up in the shelter, hailing Kathleen Clark.  Quick as a sea hare she had John Hoover's critter book.  The closest thing we found was Liomera rubra, Edwards 1865.  This small crab is pictured blow.

   I wasn't sure if Kathleen was willing to accept that identification, but I certainly was not.  Once I got the camera dried off and the SD card into the computer, I improved the picture to what you see above. 

    Now having a good look, I referred to that wonderful source for the identification of absolutely anything, Google Images.  Dr. Google, PhD did not disappoint me;  a few minutes of perusal revealed a picture, supplied by the floridamuseum.ufl.edu very similar to the crab I had photographed.  The picture had been taken in Guam and the name applied was Liomera aff. tristis. 

Liomera rubra, courtesy of the Crab Database, University of Florida.

    As it turns out, aff. is short for affinis which means that the species may be similar to another and the nomenclature is not finalized.

    As the crab was not in John Hoover's book, I forwarded it to the Great Oz.  He agreed that my identification was probably correct.  He had not heard of this crab before, but returned to me a reference from Peter Castro's checklist of Hawaiian Crabs:

Liomera tristis (Dana, 1852)

Carpilodes tristis (Dana, 1852a): 77 [type locality: archipelago Puamotensis ? (=Tuamotu Archipelago, French

Polynesia); type material presumed lost].

Hawaiian Is. records:

Carpilodes tristis (Dana, 1852) — Rathbun 1906: 842 [H.I.] — Edmondson 1946: 292 [Rathbun’s record]; 1962a:

248, fig. 8d [Rathbun’s record].

Liomera (Liomera) tristis (Dana, 1852) — Serène 1984: 59, fig. 19, pl. 5, fig. B [H.I.].

Taxonomy. Serène (1984)

Geographical distribution. Across Indo-West Pacific region.

Habitat. Intertidal, shallow subtidal.

 

    In the meantime, I had found the following reference:

 

 American Fisheries Society Special Publication 31 version 18-May-04  

2004  McLaughlin et al2005 Common and Scientific names of Aquatic Invertebrates...

Liomera tristis

Hawaii, Native                          McLaughlin, et al(2005) Occurence values: H

    For me, this was akin to a visitation from a friendly spirit.  In 2007 Sandra and I discovered a small hermit crab on the reef outside Alii Villas, where we lived.  Sandra worked the computer for all it was worth and we came up with the identification,  Calcinus revi.  This was the first record for the United States and we got some attention from two prominent carcinologists with an interest in small hermit crabs, Joseph Poupin, of the Ecole Navale in Brest, and Patsy McLaughlin of Western Washington University..  

Patsy McLaughlin 2007

 

    Before our next trip back to the PNW, Patsy had us put one of the three Ca. revis we had found in a small bottle filled with Southern Comfort (Patsy explained that this beverage is higher in alcohol than other whiskies) and we brought it to her at her home in Bow, Washington.  Bow was, at that time, extremely rural.  Patsy lived in a cabin completely devoted to the study of crabs.  She greeted us in her muddy yard bedecked in a flannel shirt stout trousers and Wellington boots.  She was accompanied by her two large dogs to whom she was feeding McDonald's Cheeseburgers, while berating them at the top of her lungs.  I must tell you, it left an indelible image.

 

    Soon enough she had our specimen under a microscope and confirmed our identification.

Sandra's delicate fingers and Calcinus revi.

   A year ago, I had the opportunity to write to Joseph Poupin, who informed us that Patsy had passed.  He sent along this photo he had taken of his fellow carcinologist and their friend Alain in a
restaurant in France.  (Hence, a French restaurant.)

   So here we are.  Its is far from clear to me how uncommon this little crab is.  Was the reference by Dr. McLaughlin the last time it was seen in Hawaii?  I have written to Dr. Poupin and I'm hoping that he will  confirm our identification and, at the same time tell us just how uncommon was this sighting.  Will I be referred to another esteemed carcinologist? In the meantime, I have had the opportunity to reflect upon my friend Patsy McLaughlin.  I'm sure she is out there on a beach somewhere, turning over rocks, looking for hermit crabs.

jeff

After only a few hours I received this email from Joseph Poupin:

Dear Jeff,

    What a nice surprise to get some news from you! I remember very well the time we were working together with Patsy. I feel like you: she was an incredible human being.    ...

    Your crab does not pose a real problem. Although we cannot see the carapace, the banded legs pattern plus previous records of this species in Hawaii in Castro list seem enough to propose with confidence Liomera tristis, a species widespread in the IWP, especially in Western and Central Pacific. You will find a few photos of this crab in my database.

Rare sightings of common species are not unusual for Decapoda, living mostly at night and experts in the art of camouflage.

I hope that you are still well and enjoy your life in Hawaii, far away from the COVID.

Take care of yourself.

Joseph that has kept the spirit of Patsy!

j

Achillles Tang, Kahalu'u  April 2021

 

Female Pearl Wrasse, Kahalu'u April 2021

Saturday Morning at Kahalu'u

    Last weekend was probably the end of Spring Break season.  For the last few days the traffic on the Kuakini Highway has been half of what it was a week ago.  Hoping that this would translate into fewer tourists at the beach, we headed down to Kahalu'u for a swim on Saturday morning.

Annie with Punjab.  She's not the only brave girl!

    As it turned out, even before 9 Am there were plenty of people at the beach park.  The maddening crowd not withstanding, I was able to claim my usual table for changing.  And in a favorable wind shift of the first order, one of the Reef Teachers brought in a three gallon bucket full of aquacates with a small sign saying "Free Avos."  Well, I stowed two of his cute little avocados in my tucker bag and, only then, headed down to the bay entry.

    Working my way over the pebbles, I stumbled around a lady and a small girl and plopped on a mossy boulder, where I planned to put on my fins before crawling, amphibian-like, over the rocks and through the narrow channel.  As it turned out, the lady was probably a young grandmother and she was gently coaxing the girl, who was most likely just 4, into her mask and fins.  I asked the nice lady if it was her (the young girl's) first time snorkeling.  She replied that it was her first time snorkeling here, at Kahalu'u.  At this point you should remember that this is not the easiest place to go snorkeling; the entry is annoying and there can be plenty of current.  

I'iwi!  The male bird wrasse taking care of business April 2021

   Through my mask I looked at the little girl, who also had her mask on.  Just like two google eyed frogs we were.  I said, "See a fish for me."  Her grandmother coaxed her ever so gently and she looked me in the eye and said,  "I will."  In the words of Punjab, as he saved Annie with his gyrocopter," A girl without courage is like a night without stars."   This little lady was like the Milky Way.

   Out in the bay the water is getting warmer.  This is good news for Gail and Martin DeLuke, who in three short weeks will become the Stewards of Casa Ono.  Which is sort of like being the Stewards of Gondor without the orcs and Ring Wraiths.  

   Immediately I saw a cooperative male bird wrasse.   the juvenile bird wrasse is omnipresent at Kahalu'u, so one might expect to see more breeding males.  Apparently one male can service a plethora of females.  The male bird wrasse in Hawaiian is named I'iwi, like the red honeycreeper with the long, red decurved bill. And what a handsome fellow he is.

   After I finished photographing the I'iwi I saw the snorkeling grandmother with her young charge.  they were plying the bay swimmingly.  I caught her eye and gave her a thumbs up and she replied in kind.  Heart warming.

    Heading towards the breakwater, I found the same cleaning station that we discussed a week or so ago. I watched the goings on and nabbed the video you see here.  I have made much of the way fish, in the process of being cleaned, appear totally detached.  Here you see a juvenile star eye parrot that is in absolute rapture.  Rolling over into a totally unnatural position, for a moment, at least, he couldn't care less about anything.

Ambon Toby  Kahalu'u April 2021

.

   Further out by the breakwater I found a cooperative Ambon Toby.  This is a common small puffer fish with beautiful electric blue lines and spots.  I used the flash in hopes of accenting that iridescence.  My sense is that bright sunlight would better display those brilliant lines and spots. But this ain't too shabby.

    I was well aware that the best picture I have of the Ambon Toby was taken  many years ago with the Canon D10.  At the minimum we now have an acceptable picture with our current camera.

     A short distance away I encountered these gorgeous blue goatfish in concert with a small ulua.  This is a common association.  Its hard to tell how these two species improve each others hunting, but, as they are ever seen together, they certainly must.

A pair of Blue Goatfish hunt with the Ulua.  April 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Back into the bay I encountered a large school of Orange Spine Unicornfish and nabbed a fortuitous video. Towards the end of this clip you get a look at a behavior that it is far from uncommon but difficult to demonstrate with a s still photo. It is relatively common to see an orange spine unicorn ,often one that is slightly larger, probably more mature, get excited and chase other members of the species.  When engaged n this excited disciplinary behavior their forehead, pectoral fin and, as you see here, the ventral fin light up, bright yellow. When the chase is complete, these bright yellow features soon return diminish; the ventral and pectoral fins return to gray and the forehead to a dull yellow.  Most often when I see an excited orange spine unicorn, there are only a few other fish around and its difficult to pick out the social territory that the aggressor is defending.  Here we see a large school and I presume that the excited fish is lord to them all.  Most must be females, but mixed in the group thee must be young males, as well.

     I certainly do not want to read too much into this.  They are fish, after all.  So let's not compare this behavior to that of a silverback gorilla maintaining lordly discipline over his troupe.  But is this so different from the wild stallion who leads his herd, maintaining his dominant position with teeth and hooves?  The orange spine unicorn is still fairly common at Kahalu'u and if you visit you may see a large grouping like this one.  Watch the school for a few minutes and perhaps you will be lucky to see the dominat mail, colors ablaze, asserting his position.

     Back ashore, the young girl and her grandmother were nowhere to be seen.  I'm sure she is out there, though, and I'm equally certain that she saw a fish for me.

jeff

Red Pencil Sea Urchin, Kahalu'u April 2021

 

 

 

The Shortnose Wrasse at Last or What do you do with really stubborn ear wax?

    Monday morning an unexpected change in plans left us with the day off.  Following breakfast, a look from our lanai revealed minimal surf and so I decided to bop down to Kahalu'u for a swim.  

   By the time I got there the surf was coming up, but the current was weak enough to make getting around fairly easy.  I saw little close in and gradually worked my way further out in to the bay. 

Does the Mona Lisa of Blennies know where to find Shorty?

   The surf was gradually increasing.  By the time I got out to where I could hear the surfers talking to one another, there were waves breaking over me. In that bouncy environment I spotted a  small speckled fish.  Having lots of experience with this little fellow, not to mention having it right up front as my target fish, I knew it was a juvenile Shortnose Wrasse.  I turned and looked at him for an instant and then he disappeared.  

    Having gone so very far, I was not going to give up on this fish.  While looking for him, I spotted a female Coral Blenny.  This species is usually quite skittish, heading for cover the moment they notice that you are looking at them.  This lady, however, was delightfully patient with me and I got five usable photos.  Dispensing with the other four, I kept the one you see here.  How do you like that wry smile?   Is she the Mona Lisa of blennies or what?  Did that hint of a smile mean that she knew where the shortnose was hiding? 

 

    I continued scouting around for the Shortnose Wrasse and in the process spotted a large Haig's Hermit Crab in a depression.  Of course, this is one of the smaller hermit crabs, so in actuality, the fact that he was large meant that he wasn't miniscule.  This is one of my favorite species of hermits, in large part because he has purple legs.  Go Huskies! 

     I took a few photos of him in his depression and then made a lucky
grab.  Once I had him in my clutches he peeked out and then withdrew.  I wedged him into a crevice near the surface and started looking for a hand hold for myself.

    It is a curiosity of many bays in Hawaii that you can swim quite far out and yet the bay remains shallow.  Here I was more than a hundred yards from the beach and the bottom was only five feet down with coral and rubble extending up to within two feet of the surface.  

    Before I was able to get situated (the waves kept washing me off my hand holds) the small hermit poked out and flipped over.  In addition to the the still photograph you have here to enjoy, you get a short movie showing the Haig's Hermit making his escape from his lofty prison.  While you are watching you might consider swimming in the waves while holding the camera still at an acceptable distance from the small crab.

  

  At this point, I entreat you to remember your hermit crab anatomy.  In this picture with General Haig looking up at you from inside his crevice, you can see the long orange antennae, used for feeling, and the two antenulae, which in this colorful species are a handsome blue, beneath the eye stalks.  Remember that the antenulae are used for tasting so they are in close proximity to the mouth.

    By the way, I love that color of blue.  It is my recollection that Meryl Streep, in The Devil Wears Prada, comments on just that shade of blue as she berates Anne Hathaway, who is a Philistine when it comes to the world of fashion.  Knowing young adults from New York City as I do, I suspect that Anne is equally unversed in the world of carcinology.  And by the way, Miranda Priestly calls that color cerulean.

Shortnose Wrasse 1

     Finally I tore myself away from the hermit crab and, lo and behold, I had wasted enough time and our friend Shorty had returned to our wave swept patch of coral and rubble.  In a quixotic effort to impress Kathleen Turner with my photographic prowess  (or to paraphrase the Cowardly Lion, I was trying to be a Lion not a Mowess) I chased that little fish around the coral for at least ten minutes.  As we have previously noted, this juvenile does not like to stay in one place.  Unfortunately, with the waves and the current I could not stay in one place either.  Every time I went for a handhold I was flipped back and forth like the tail of a kite in a hurricane.  

   So what you see here are pictures of a small, darting fish as taken by a consumately immobile photographer.  In each picture I offer you the challenge:  Is it the fish or the photographer creating the motion that distorts the image?  At the end of the day, the pictures aren't perfect, but they aren't terrible and it gives you a good idea what this fish looks like.

Shortnose Wrasse 2  Is it getting better?

   Feeling like I had just been put through the heavy duty cycle on the old Maytag, and with enough material for a stab at a blog, I headed for the beach.

   While I was rinsing off the multiple garments that constitute my winter snorkeling outfit, I noticed a young lady who I had seen earlier, when I was putting on these very same shirt,vest and weight belt.  At that time, I noticed that she was fair skinned, but.it was hard to tell how fair she was because she was standing by the sunscreen dispenser that the Reef Teachers provide, doing her best to cover herself in that sticky white paste.  She looked like Casper's girlfriend.

   Now she was sitting on the rock wall between the showers, cleaned off and looking a more normal shade of slightly pink tourist.  She looked up and gave me a small smile, sort of like that female Coral Blenny we had encountered out in the bay.  This was all the invitation I needed, so I asked her where she was from.  "Minneapolis" she replied.

The Shortnose Wrasse Juvenile.  In focus at last.

    "Oh." I said,  "Minneapolis in the news."  

 "And not for a good thing."  she replied with a bit of a
frown..  To make matters worse I said, "With any luck they won't burn the place down tonight."

    Little did I know that George Floyd, the famous martyr of the Twin Cities,  was becoming old news.  Just a few minutes earlier, in a suburb of Minneapolis, a policewoman had  killed a black boy, stopped for an expired license plate.   She did this with a single bullet when she thought she was using her taser.  Whoa to the land of Hiawatha.  Not to mention all the rest of us. 

   So as you go about your day, concentrate on something pleasant, like little wrasses flitting about among the coral.  And for goodness sake, remember that your gun is on your right hip and your taser is on the left.

jeff

    Not everybody has an earwax problem.  If you don't go snorkeling, you may not even realize that you have a problem.  But if you do go snorkeling, you may notice that earwax can prevent the saltwater form leaving your ear canal and this can create significant problems.  

    Suffice it to say, I have been in a life and death struggle with wax for forty years.  One can use alcohol to make the sea water thinner and that often helps.  Or you can try irrigating your ear with warm water and a bulb syringe.  Until recently, this worked for me.  If you don't use warm water you get tremendous vertigo!

     Here is a tip for when all else fails.  In your local pharmacy you will find tiny bottles of ear drops, which are very expensive.  Nearby you might find a large bottle of mineral oil for a relative pittance.  It is apt to be in close approximation to the chocolatey flavored laxative tabs.  As it turns out, the mineral oil is the same thing as the expensive ear drops and, assuming you are using it for ear drops,  you can purchase a lifetime supply for next to nothing.  

     The first time I attempted to use the mineral oil (which is administered in a very small quantity by a sympathetic second person)  I didn't leave it in long enough. My sympathetic person looked into this and suggested that I stopper up the ear with a bit of cotton and leave it for an hour.  Following this treatment the wax washed right out (with the bulb syringe).

    Never leave sea water in your ears unless you want to end up in the emergency room.  Progress from alcohol, to warm water irrigation and then to this new trick.  Most of all, good luck in finding a sympathetic second person.  He or she will be the key for any number things, ear and not ear related.     

    "What!"

j

My Anniversary Post

   Its a beautiful spring day here in Kailua, sunny with just a few clouds.  And my lovely wife informs me that it is our tenth anniversary.  As we lived in sin for many years prior to tying the knot, I have trouble remembering this date, focusing on the 4th of July which is not only the day we met but a major holiday, hence much easier to keep at the the tip of my cerebral cortex.

Belted Wrasse  Stethojulis balteata,  Kahalu'u 4/21

   It was a beautiful day yesterday, as well.  We got a lot done in the morning, but both Sandra and I had received a fateful jab the day before and by the afternoon we were both hors de combat.  The late afternoon found me wearing a fleece coat, sweatpants and a stocking cap. This is a complete turnaround from my usual home front outfit which might reasonably be described as, "as little as possible."

    At any rate, this morning I was all better and we were down at Kahalu'u for our anniversary swim around 9 AM.  Yasuko said 'Ohayo gozaimas."  Vince said, "It was super clear yesterday and today looks even better", and I said, "Let's hope there's some fish."

   As it turned out, this was a good day for snorkeling in Kailua with some excellent looks in clear water at a fine host of usual suspects.  So, for those of you who enjoy a fresh look at our fish, we have some good pictures and a couple movie clips.  Shoot a dropper full of saltwater up your nose and the experience should be complete.  

   As the bay was very calm, I decided to do the swim counter clockwise, heading along the rocky shore to the Rescue Shelter.  Even over there the water was clear.  I did not see my long lost leaf scorpionfish, but I did get several good looks at a male belted wrasse.  This is not a rare fish, but usually he is in a hurry and difficult to photograph.  He has four cousins in the western Pacific, but our Hawaiian endemic is the prettiest of the bunch.

    Moving along I passed a couple cleaning stations that were being run by juvenile bird and saddle wrasses.  I then happened upon a couple ornate butterflyfish.  This is one of our prettiest fish and when the first pair was joined by a second I just had to take a short movie.  

     A few minutes later I happened upon A Pinktail Triggerfish, showing off in the clear water.  For those crafty people out there who like to make mobiles and such at home this is an almost perfect profile of one of our classics

     I had now rounded the corner and was swimming into the area near the bayside bar of the long- shuttered Keahou Beach Hotel.  The rest of the place is completely razed.  No more hotel.  And the charming facsimile of David Kalakaua's beach bungalow vanished years ago.  But the deserted bar still remains.  As I looked at it today, I noticed that half of the roof has been removed.  "Why only half?" I wondered.  In fact, nothing about the dismemberment of this classic Kona hotel makes any sense to me.  Its, like, a travesty, Dude!

 

   Just up ahead I encountered a pair of Sailfin Tangs, as always, one was much larger than the other.  I followed them for a minute and they led me to a delightful cleaning station.  Above you see a video of the cleaning station.  Do you see both of the pair of Cleaner Wrasses?  While your examining the film, how many species of fish do you see?  

   A moment later the cleaning action moved to the other side of the rock.  Here you see one of the cleaners doing his job on the larger Sailfin Tang.  I swam around and caught the Sailfin Tang filled out in total repose.  Presumably the Cleaner Wrasse is cleaning on the other side of this plate sized surgeon fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Now I told you up front that there were going to be a lot of fish pictures.  After leaving the cleaning station I found a handsome Arc-eye Hawkfish waitng patiently on a dead coral.  This fish comes in two flavors, dark chocolate and pictured here,

Arc Eye Hawkfish  P. arcatus,  Kahalu'u  April 2021

ice cream sandwich.  The arc-eye is widely distributed in the Pacific, so its not an endemic, but from my earliest times snorkeling here in Hawaii it has been one of my favorites.  This fish is fairly common and its easy to get a picture, but all hawkfish are a bit flighty, probably because they hang out in the open.  In this instance, the hawkfish was in very clear water and when I dove down for a hand hold he did not dart away.  I was able to maneuver to within four feet and hold very still while I snapped the photo.

     In spite of all of these wonderful pictures we were far from finished.  I tore myself away from the hawkfish and circled back to the cleaning station.  There, perched atop one of the coral heads, was a banded sea urchin (the more common of our black urchins with longer spines) which was wiggling its spines furiously.  

 

When I looked closer I could see many "eggs" which the urchin was apparently expelling through that all purpose orifice on the top.  There were fifty to a hundred of these "eggs", they were about two millimeters in diameter and slightly adherent to one another.  It appeared that the vigorous spine movement was for the purpose of sending the "eggs" on their way, as they fell off the side of the urchin individually or in small groups.  

A close up of the sea urchin pellets.

   I took multiple pictures and movies and then, like those small objects, I fell away fro the urchin.  It took me only a few minutes to remember that echinoderms in general do not undergo internal fertilization, so they couldn't have been eggs.  I revised my description to "pellets" and sent a question to John Hoover.  He agreed with my new assumption, that these represent some sort of organized fecal product.  But he wasn't sure and suggested that I contact Chris Mai, who writes the Echinoblog.  

    Chris turns out to be a post doc fellow at the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. who now indeed writes the Echinoblog.  As the page I saw was devoted to marine worms and his bio implies that he is fascinated with weird starfish, right off the bat this didn't seem like the best referral.  But things became even more peculiar.  When I clicked a link that seemed to promise a contact page.  I was shunted to another of Chris's web pages dedicated to Godzilla.  Obviously, Chris would be right at home with the boys on the Big Bang Theory.

    In case you think I'm making this up, here is the link that John sent me: 

   http://echinoblog.blogspot.com/

    I have now forwarded my question to Marta de Maintenon, who is really smart and as far as I know has no interest what so ever in science fiction.

    After documenting the Banded urchin it was time to start heading for the exit.  Close in I ran into a nice trio of Rockmovers.  Earlier, on my way out into the bay, I had trailed a large male Rockmover who swam away before I could get his picture.  This trio was moving right along but I got close enough for the photo you see here.

Three Rockmovers are better than one!

    Finally I was ashore and back in the warm embrace of my beloved who had spent this portion of her tenth anniversary playing with her phone and watching the tourists.  Unless I'm mistaken, spring has come to all of you, so enjoy the warm weather and watch out for sea urchin poop.  Not to mention Godzilla.

jeff

 

Hot off the press comes the answer from the lovely and highly educated Dr. de Maintenon:  "urchin poop"

Marta

A Rainy day in Kailua

   The weather in Kailua has been stormy.  Sadly, the fish watching hasn't been much better.  There will be no earth shaking fish stories in this blog,  but sometimes that's the way it goes.

    Last Sunday Sandra and Peter communicated and made arrangements for us to hook up at Kawaihae.  Monday morning was full of dark clouds and as we passed Honokohau Harbor it started to pour.  The forecast had been for partly cloudy up in Kawaihae, so we pushed on and by the time we were driving past the Mauna Lani the sun had come out. 

 

    At the Surf park we met up with our friends.  Hai and Lottie were there with Nai'a, who at 13 months is now walking around on her flippers, which is appropriate for a toddler named "Dolphin".  Soon enough Peter and Marla showed up.  They returned to Hawaii last week, just in time for their second shots.  While in California they put their new home in order and will be returning to San Luis Obispo in a month to begin a new mainland episode.  

   Although there was plenty of catching up to do, we soon found ourselves in the water, swimming around the first platform.  As was the case on our last swim here at Kawaihae Harbor, there was less
fouling growth on the pillars and fewer fish.  On this day we saw no juvenile Hawaiian Dascylus,which had been ever present until a month ago, and no Milletseed Butterflies.  Around the second platform we saw a trembling nudibranch that was sufficiently shallow for me to attempt a couple movies, and on the makai side, the wire coral gobies were still clinging onto their pipe.  That and a nearby cushion starfish were the highlights, if you can call it that, of this snorkel.

    The following day I was hoping to swim at Kahalu;u.  We loaded up our gear, but as we made the turn down Sunset, we could see huge surf pounding in at Lymans.  From a mile away, the surfers looked like ants, but there was no doubt that the current at K Bay would be too strong for us to have much success.  Instead we detoured to the KTA store and picked up a nice chunk of ahi.  

   On the way home, with the tuna safely on ice, we stopped at Kahalu'u just for the fun of it.  My favorite trio of Vince, Yasuko and Kathleen Turner were holding down the Reef Teacher fort and, as it was still a bit early for tourists, they had a moment for a chat. After I reported on the dismal findings at Kawaihae the topic somehow turned to whale sharks.  Kathleen had actually seen one in Kona, but was too slow getting on her fins to get in the water before it swam away.  Of a sudden, Yasuko got excited,

A Whale Shark greets the kids at the Osaka Aquarium.

trying to tell us something.  I caught the word Osaka, but it was up to Kathleen to decipher the word aquarium.  What the diminutive Japanese dynamo was trying to tell us was that at the Osaka aquarium, swimming slowly in a large tank,  there is a whale shark.   The aquarium, largest in the world, is scheduled to reopen on June 1st with limited visitors.

   If you needed a reason to visit Japan, that might be it.   Of course, that island nation is still locked up tighter than the proverbial oyster.  Like the island Kingdom of Hawaii, Japan is in the position of regulating who gets in and who gets out during the pandemic.  Up to now, that has been nobody.  Hence, we have no Japanese tourists here in Hawaii.  They could come, but then they couldn't go home.  No konichiwa for them.  Hopefully the Osaka aquarium will be hosting some American visitors in the near future. And my hopefulness includes  extending a warm "Aloha" to our Japanese tourists.  They really are part of our scene.  Having said all that, Japan has no plans to reopen its border.

   Our week was punctuated by some intensive yard work but by yesterday I was able to get down to the pier for a swim.  While I was donning my winter snorkeling outfit, a young couple appeared on the opposite side of the cubby.  As they were conversing in an inscrutable tongue, and I have no boundaries whatsoever, I asked, "Where are you guys from?"  It turns out they were from Austria and have been traveling around the world for the last six months.  Although, apparently, they have not been to Japan.

Japanese girls imitate flying fish at the Schonbrunn Palace

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    I noted that we have a lot of Austrians competing in the Ironman (although it is anyone's guess when the next race will be) and then it occurred to me that about two years ago I was in Austria.  This seemed to make them happy and we spoke for a moment about Vienna and my Air BnB in the Mariahilferstrasse neighborhood.  

    That was a cool place.  Fancy stores on the eponymous shopping street backing on to a funky neighborhood with lots of young families, restaurants and a chance to shop for a picnic in a foreign language.  Won't it be swell when we can have another experience like that?  I, for one, can't wait.

jeff