Back in the Water KOA.

    We have been back in Kona for about two weeks.  Much of our time has been taken up with re-provisioning, gardening and repairing stuff.  Hawaii takes its toll even when you aren't here to use things. Truth be told, we also spend an excessive amount of time loafing around in front of the fan as we while away these hot October afternoons. 

     We have also found time to get in the water and see a few fish.  

     On my first excursion to the beach I went to Kahalu'u.  Here we were greeted with barrier webbing surrounding the pavilion and a sign stating Hawaii's current battle against Covid 19 as it relates to gathering at the beach.  Whether or not we are going to out live this plague is anyone's guess. 

   I hadn't been snorkeling in almost six months and failed to do an adequate job of barbering.  So instead of watching  fish I spent an hour mostly dealing with  my mask.  Water boarding, anyone?

     On our second trip to the beach we went to the pier.  Now with a functional mask, we were able to

Speckled Sorpionfish, Kona Pier, October 2021

do some diving.  Cowering in a healthy head of cauliflower coral, I found and photographed a Speckeld Scorpiofish,  S.coniorta.  Assuming you are in an area where cauliflower coral is growing, and this valuable group of corals is hanging on by a thread in the face of climate change and the associated warming of the oceans,  the speckled scorpion is not all that hard to find.

     Photography is another matter.  I have never seen one of these tiny fish other than hiding as deep between the leaves of the coral as it can wedge its small, colorful body.  Thus, capturing the beast in a photograph depends heavily on the camera's ability to choose the object of your desire and focus upon same.  In this instance, the TG 5 did a remarkably good job.  This picture was taken with flash and massaged with Corel.  The colors were not altered.  Considering this was the first time in six months that the camera was fired in anger, I think the results are, at the very minimum, acceptable. 

    On the way in, Sandra and I enjoyed chasing a pair of saddleback butterflies, but didn't see much else of note. 

Pontifical Miter and a partner to be named later.  Kahalu'u  10/21

However, on shore Sandra was engaged in an apres la douche schmooze when her counterpart revealed that there are sharks about.  She discovered that on that day a single reef shark was associated with the bait ball, which was only twenty yards further out in the bay that we had ventured.  We were that close.  Today I spoke with an authoritative lady recreational swimmer, who said that she hadn't seen a shark in a week, but they were indeed associated with the bait ball which is hanging on the pier side of the little three quarter mile buoy.  

     A couple days ago I returned to Kahalu'u well shaved.  For most of the outing I did not see much but on the way in I happened upon this nice mollusc, almost certainly a Pontifical Miter, M. stictica.  I no longer pluck these probable living animals from the gravelly substrate for fear of ripping off their tender heads.  So the picture you see was taken in situ.  If you look carefully, perhaps you will see a shell of similar size but without the fancy whorls lying next to the miter. .This is  most likely a different species.  When loafing around in the afternoon I read, and recently I completed a biography of Malcolm X, by Les Payne.  Thus prepared, I would submit that one might put on his bed sheet and pointed hat and accuse that Pontifical Miter of mis-shell-genation.  As if just being pontifical wasn't enough to get the poor mollusc in trouble with the clan!

Asian Swallowtail, Papilio xuthus, Kahalu'u 10/21

   On the way in I saw two snowflake moray eels, but both escaped before getting photographed.  After my shower, on the other hand, I was treated to a lepidopteran delight of the first order.  As I stood there, an Asian Swallowtail fluttered nearby.  I pulled out the camera, freshly rinsed, and, as if on command, the swallowtail landed in the wet sand only a few feet away.  The insect then engaged in a behavior known as puddling, in which the butterfly lands on a wet spot, sticks its drinking-straw-like proboscis into the wet muck and sucks up some mineral containing fluid.  I have been reading about puddling for a year  now, but never seen it.  Come to think of it, although this species is fairly common up at Casa Ono, I have never seen one at the beach.  If you look carefully you may identify the proboscis in action!

   So watch out for sharks, keep your proboscis out of other people's business and all will be well.

jeff