Kahalu'u Bumpy or a Tail of Two Parrots

     Kona has been blessed with non-stop fantastic surfing conditions for several weeks.  The swell mostly comes from the north, leaving Kailua Bay protected.  The water is a little cloudy around Kailua Pier, but by and large the sea is flat.  This has not been the case at Kahalu'u.  On several days in the last month the lifeguards, perhaps with the blessing of the County of Hawaii, have closed the park.  On most other days, the surf is so high that there is a ripping current and few swimmers venture far from the entrance.

A recent day at Kahalu'u, photo SKG

   Yesterday, as the sun rose over Hualalai, Sandra and I noted that the surf down at Lyman's  was a bit smaller than usual.  While there were still surfers, they weren't getting many killer rides.  And so we thought we would make a morning dash to K Bay.   I checked Tides4Fishing and noted that if we got there a little after 8 we would be one hour after the low high tide, which was 1.2 feet at 7:10 AM.  Perfect! 

   By the time we made it to Kahalu'u the surf was up  just a bit, with a few waves sloshing over the Menehune Breakwater.   As I was getting organized, a gentleman of about my age came over and asked if I snorkeled in the bay...his way of asking for some advice.  I showed him the best entry for us kapunas and commented that the surf was low enough that the current might not over power us.  When it became apparent that he was going in at that time, I noted that the tide was just right, but if we waited two hours he would be crawling over rocks in the entry like a primordial lungfish.  

   My good deed for the day under my weight belt, I hit that very entry.  On this day I had new fins, a pair of medium long Cressis.  It is a curiosity of living in Hawaii that you wear out things like swimsuits and swim fins that, if you lived on the mainland,. might last close to a lifetime.  

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse, juv.  Kahalu'u February 2022

   Soon I was out in the bay.  The current was fairly strong, but there was a bigger problem.  The water was so bumpy that it was continually washing over me and flooding my snorkel.  There were many periods when I couldn't take three breaths without having to surface and dump out my snorkel. 

    Despite these challenging conditions, I was seeing a few good animals.  A Stripebelly Puffer led me out and at the first coral head I encountered a tiny blue streak juvenile of the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse.  In the same hollow was a Gosline's Fanged Benny.  In my opinion, both the cleaner wrasse and the blenny will occasionally take a bite of the fish as opposed to simply removing the parasite.  In this instance neither was attracting much business.  

   I struggled in the direction of the old hotel bar, the only thing left of the once beloved and now demolished Keahou Beach Hotel,  and achieved another coral head.  There I spied a small shrimp on the top of the coral.  He was only an inch long and hiding beneath the spines of  a sea urchin.  Despite the surging current I was able to snap two pictures, one of which is good enough for the identification, an Eyespot Shrimp. 

Eyespot Shrimp, Kahalu'u February 2022

  Tiny shrimp identification is one of those instances in which the camera has to do the heavy lifting: until I got to the computer and looked at the images I had no idea what it might be. Luckily, I have seen this fellow under better conditions. Here is the picture I took yesterday.  At the end of the blog I will show you my best picture of this handsome little animal, taken 6 years ago. 

   Leaving the shrimp to his own devices, I plowed laboriously through the current in the direction of  a seaward coral.  On the way I got a nice look at an old pirate of Bluespine Unicornfish.  This was a new fish for the year, although one might hope to see it every time out.  

   Finally I made it to a familiar coral that in the past has yielded such treasures as a leaf scorpionfish hiding in the distinctive depression on the leeward side.  If there is a spot in this bay that gets me seething with nostalgia, I suppose it's this coral head.  

Bullethead Parrotfish Kahalu'u February 2022

   Luckily for me this spot didn't disappoint.  While swimming hard to keep in position, I watched as a gorgeous parrotfish appeared over the top of the coral.  His flank was scalloped blue with a hint of pink on the edges.  He had blue lines and orange freckles creating an intricate face pattern.  But there was no doubt about who he was. He had a blue tail with a flat trailing edge and a blunt face that could only be that of a Bullethead.  We have tons of experience with this species along the Kona Coast, but to see a supermale still takes one aback.  

   I'm going to show you two pictures.  the first is one that I took yesterday  although my picture does not do this fish justice, please note the blue tail with the flat edge.

The second picture is one that I lifted from the internet, so my thanks to Reef Guide.  This picture gives you an idea about how beautiful a super male bullethead can be and approximates (although there is more pink in this fish) what I saw yesterday.

Bullethead Parrotfish super male, courtesy Reef Guides

  This male bullethead circled a bit and then left the area.  I turned and to my surprise, a similarly colored, large parrotfish was swimming towards me.  Luckily I still had the camera in my hand.  As I watched he raised his dorsal fin and circled vigorously. 

  

 As before, I'm going to show you two pictures.  The first is one that I took.  Please note the moon shaped scallop of the tail, not to mention the flamboyant dorsal fin.  I guess you will have to take my word that the sides were a beautiful blue, the scalloped scales outlined in pink.

Regal Parrotfish Kahalu'u February 2022

  I'm calling this a male Regal Parrotfish.   As far as I can remember this is the first male regal that I have seen south of Kohala.  Around the pier we occassionally get a juvenile regal, but nothing like this.  

   The second picture is one taken by our good friend Peter Krottje.  Peter had the good fortune to snorkel regularly at Mahukona where this species is far more common.  Suffice it to say, he a very good underwater photographer, as well.

    As an aside, Peter has just sailed through a little medical episode that had Sandra and I more than a little worried.  Thank goodness, he is doing very well and his neurosurgeon says he can be photographing parrotfish in two short months, as long as he doesn't do any free diving. Getting older is a drag until you consider the alternatives, which can be pretty darn scary.  We look forward to enjoying Peter's company and his photographs for years to come.

Regal Parrotfish, Mahukona, photo Peter Krottje

    Back on shore I ran into my new friend, who as it turned out is also named Peter.   Standing in the morning sunshine, we shared experiences: bumpy water, strong currents, flooded snorkels   But both us old guys saw some fish and made it back to tell the tale.  In my case two tails, one flat and one with streamers.

jeff

Eyespot Shrimp, Kahalu'u 2006

Bluespine Unicorn Tang  Kahalu'u  February 2022

A Close encounter witha Box Jelly

      Yesterday I got dropped off for a morning swim at the pier.   It was just before 9 AM and there was a congregation of recreational swimmers, some with floats, waiting in a line, waist deep in the cool water.  They were accompanied by a leader and someone on a paddle board.  Was this the race committee?  I had no idea what was going on.

Recreational Swimmers and their escort.  What are they up to?

     I skirted the waiting swimmers and headed off into the bay.  Ten minutes later I was out by the fourth swim buoy and as far as I could tell the swimmers were still in line.  I had not seen much up to that point, but then things picked up.  Hiding beneath a coral ledge I saw my first Palani of the year.  This is the fish for which one of our main thoroughfares is named and it is usually plentiful out here in the bay.  This is another instance of a common fish being more difficult than one would expect. 

   A couple cleaning stations yielded usual suspects and then I spied a medium sized native snapper.  The wonderfully named opakapaka is rarely seen to close to shore, although it is a larger fish and can sometimes be seen whole, with its orange tail, in the markets.  The small tooth jobfish and the green jobfish are occasionally seen close in.  They are hard to tell apart and I usually do it by size.  I don't know what sort of job these smaller snappers do, but I'm sure they're good at it.  I called this one green.  

Palani, Kailua Bay, 2010

   By this time the swimmers from the beach were all around me.  They didn't seem to be racing, more like swimming around and talking to one another.  Time had passed on and I left them, still in the dark as to their modus operandi.   I swam back to the pier without seeing anything special.  When I was about ten yards from the pier, near the first swim buoy, I caught sight of small glistening trailers.  Was this the long sought after African Pomapano, the juvenile of which is called the Threadfin Jack?  

Extreme Danger!  Box Jellyfish!

   Another second and I caught a look at the whole animal and it was no fish.  This was a box jellyfish with its four stinging tentacles trailing behind a clear tubular body.  The whole thing, tentacles and all might fit inside a can made for three tennis balls.  It was incredibly beautiful.  Body and tentacles were remarkably translucent and glimmered in the sunlit water.  I did not, however, stick around to admire this nemesis of the sea, nor to take his picture.  I swam away watching for more jellyfish. 

   Box jellyfish stings are apparently very painful.  In Hawaii they are rarely fatal.  On the south facing beaches of Oahu they are expected about ten days after a full moon.  Here in Kona they are rare.  this was only my second box jellyfish in many years of snorkeling.  And I hope to keep it that way!  jeff

Boosting the List at the Kailua Pier or Cecil B. DeMille Meets the Day Octopus

    

     Sandra and I started the day with a quick trip to Walmart.  I dashed through the store in my swimsuit, nabbing a much needed weed sprayer.  A few minutes later, Sandra was dropping me off at the pier.  At 8:15,  I was a bit ahead of the recreational swimmers.

The Barred Filefish Swims Onto the List, January 2022

     The water was cold today.  It is the last day of January, after all, so we shouldn't be surprised. On the plus side, it was just a little cloudy and there was a nice selection of fish.  On the way out, I spotted a pair of oval butterflies.  Shortly after that I found the first eel of 2022, a small Undulated Moray,.  He was very light in color, but the markings on his flank are unmistakable.  (See above) This was a smaller individual, but one must always remember that this is the eel most likely to  bite.  As I swam away from the eel I spied the first Peacock Flounder of the year, cruising ten feet down, over a patch of sand.  Such was the quality of the water, that if he hadn't been moving I never would have seen him. 

    Out in front of Hulihee's Palace I identified two fish that I really should have seen before now, Barred Filefish and Whitebar Surgeonfish.  The Barred Filefish, should be seen regularly.  With this in mind, I had told Sandra that it was the fish I most wanted to add to the list.  In past years we have seen the juvenile, black with a coat of tiny white spots, hiding among the corals, very near the base of the pier.  This day there was only a single fish, almost 100 yards from the pier.  It takes two to tango and I remain hopeful that we will see more barred filefish and that special juvenile in 2022.

    On the way back in I was blessed with a special treat.   Perhaps my favorite marine association is that of an octopus hunting with a Manybar Goatfish.   I saw the goatfish first, working the bottom with a male Bird Wrasse.  Immediately I found the octopus... their partner in crime.  I watched the trio for at least ten minutes.  In that time, the octopus changed colors and textures repeatedly,  and swam from one coral head to the next as the hunt progressed.

   It must be human nature to believe a special animal is larger than it is.  In the pictures and movies that I took today, it is clear that both the goatfish and the Bird Wrasse were significantly bigger than the octopus.  Or to put it another way, despite the tricks pulled by my imagination, this was a fairly small octopus.

   And what about the movies?  After watching the octopus for about a minute I decided that since my attempts at still  photography with the Day Octopus were invariably a failure,  I might try taking a short film.  The idea was that the moving octopus would betray his location.  Birdwatchers and rhinoceroses apply a similar principal.  If you can detect motion an animal is easier to locate.

 I took four twenty second films of the octopus.  One has to remember that the trick in watching a Day Octopus is keeping a sufficient distance away.  If one gets too close the octopus spooks and the show is over.  The first film is probably the best, but done without telephoto at a distance of ten or twelve feet, it challenges the viewer to find the small octopus as he sits atop his coral.  As you watch the video you can find the octopus atop the rock at about 7:30.  The next three videos were taken with full telephoto.  Frequently the photographer has difficulty keeping the moving octopus in the frame.  But there are some very good moments, where you see the octopus swimming and changing color and texture.

   As I swam away from the octopus I replaced the camera in the pocket of my suit,  only to discover a small, flat, rectangular object in the pocket.  Remember that run through Walmart?  Well, here was the credit card we used to purchase the weed sprayer.  As I swam along I pondered a new question...Do credit cards float?  I'm going to guess probably not, but i didn't take the card out to test the hypothesis.  Luckily, the card stayed where it was and we made it home with a few new fish for the year, and a wonderful experience with an octopus.

jeff

Th th th that's all, folks!