A Close Encouter in Kailua

     How often do you arrive at the beach and hear, "You should have been here yesterday!"  The fish were biting like crazy.  There were manta rays swimming right next to the pier..  Etc, etc.  On the other hand, its fairly unusual to have someone say, "It's a good thing you weren't here yesterday."

     That's what happened to me...yesterday.  I was changing at the cubbies at the foot of the Kailua Pier and

A Box Jelly Dries on the Kailua Pier,

inquired of the nice young lady next to me, who was drying off after her swim, how was the water.  "It's beautiful," she replied, "but its a good thing you weren't here yesterday.  There were bunches of box jellyfish."  In my career,  I have seen exactly one box jellyfish and I am happy to keep it that way.  Their painful sting is legend.  Indeed, other people standing near us started recounting box jelly stings.  No deaths were mentioned, but if you had to pick one thing, short of a shark attack, that you might want to keep off your wish list, running into a school of box jellies might be it.

   So numerous were these nefarious coelenterates that one had washed ashore.  An intrepid swimmer, presumably wearing a glove, had extricated it from the sand and placed it on the curb.  And look!  Its still there!   My picture isn't great, the jellyfish,after all, had been out of water for a day.  But I believe you will agree it's identifiable.

   Anyway, the water was clear, especially close to shore.  And there were some fish.  As I swam out, I saw the increasingly rare Oval Butterflyfish.  On my way back in I saw a nice pair of Teardrops.  The oval was way too far away for photography, and the Teardrops weren't close.  I'm including their picture because it's such a charming grouping.  And they really are pretty fish.  A little further on I saw Stripe Belly Puffer, which is not as common as it used to be.  

   I crossed the swim line, which at this point is more theoretical than physically real, and took a turn over by the pier.  I saw a nice male Coral Blenny, in breeding plumage.  Naturally, he dodged into a crevice before I could get a good picture.

   As I swam slowly down the pier I spied a large green sea turtle.  As I entered the ocean,  a young lady tourist had gushed at me about a large sea turtle, pointing to a spot out by the sea wall.  I had begun my swim in that direction with no luck, but now, here he was.  

   I watched him for a minute or two at a distance of greater than ten feet, which I believe is the current regulation.  He was a big guy, certainly the largest I have seen in the last few years.  The turtle was working his way down the pier, scraping algae off the cement with his sharp beak.  He was operating in a leisurely fashion, befitting a turtle, who, if left to their own devices, are among the most complacent of God's creatures. As this wasn't terribly exciting, I soon returned to searching among the coral for something more unusual.  

A close encounter with a curious green sea turtle.

   And then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some motion.  I turned, to find that the turtle, in a moment of curiosity, had swum right up to me.  As I watched, he came closer, closing within a foot.  Adult green sea turtles are entirely herbivorous.  However, they conduct their business with a beak so sharp and tough that it can scrape algae from stone.  With this in mind, I found myself swimming slowly away from the turtle. 

     It is not unusual for a turtle to approach a snorkeler.  Twenty five years of conservation-minded behavior on our part must have something to do with this.  With any luck, one day a turtle will swim up and say hello to you.

jeff