Back in the Water Part Two and an update on Mauna Loa lava viewing.

        This last week has seen some pretty delightful accomplishments.

    As you already know, we made it mauka and saw lava bubbling up from the summit of Mauna Loa and slithering down the north face of the mountain.  Last night on the news they had a geologist dumping some viscous blue liquid down a short ramp while explaining, as it pooled on the table top, that lava doesn't run as fast on a flat surface as it does flowing down the slope.  Oh! Really?  What he was actually trying to explain was why all the high paid, super intelligent geologists thought the lava would over run the highway today when...surprise, surprise...it will happen in about a week.  Regardless, we got ours.

  And for those of you who are on island or arriving in the next few days, the Department of Transportation is opening up the old Saddle Road in the vicinity of the approaching lava as a viewing area off the main (soon to be engulfed) DKI, which is what they are now calling  modern Inouye Highway. On the accompanying map, you will notice that this old road goes around the south side of the cinder cones mentioned in the previous blog, getting you even closer to the lava. 

   A day later the redoubtable SKG and your humble correspondent replaced a switch...a rheostat switch, no less, that controls the light over our dining table.  We are neither licensed nor bonded and, I am pleased to announce, do not occupy the ward recently vacated by Jay Leno.  Or worse!  To emphasize how things wear out in Hawaii, this is the third switch we have replaced in the nine or ten years we have been at Casa Ono.  And this is not an especially old house. Or to put it another way, this climate is murder on everything and one needs to be a bit handy.  If you don't die in the process, so much the better.

Flat Rock Crab, P. planissimum  thanks to Kwajalein Underwater

   Finally...Yesterday I got the clearance from my supervisor to re-enter the deep blue sea.  There was a hiatus in the winter swell and I took the opportunity to go for a swim at Kahalu'u.  Both Kathleen Clark and my pal Yasuko were there and it was a jolly reunion. 

   Yasuko said, "Genki des ka?"  to which I replied "Genki des." She then proceeded to chatter on in  inscrutable Japanese.

   Kathleen said, "Oh, I was just thinking about you yesterday."  Then the other shoe dropped.  Paul, who I know mostly by reputation, had taken a picture of a "flat crab". She showed me the picture on her phone. Percnon planissimus is a rock crab that lives in crevices, an invertebrate that I may not have seen.  Paul's picture was magnificent.  Yasuko and I agreed that it looked like a tarantula.  I'm showing you a picture from the internet, which isn't nearly as good as Paul's, but you get the idea. 

Hebrew Cone, Kahalu'u December 2020

   It was clear that to regain my place in Kathleen's esteem I better start finding some crabs.

   Social hour completed, Sandra helped me down over the rocks and into the bay.  I'm pleased to tell you that the snorkel repaired gratis by Jeff Jones at Honu Divers worked perfectly. Even better, my left knee did not complain excessively as I toured the bay for 40 minutes. It was just a little choppy with mild current, so this was a good initial test. Out in the bay I saw some usual suspects, the best being a Hebrew cone hunting in the sand out by the Rescue Shelter.  

   I no longer pluck snails from the sand, for fear of ripping off their delicate little heads, so this photo is totally in vivo.  It was only Thursday, but figuring that the snail didn't know the difference, I wished him a Shabbat shalom and went on my way.

   I had arranged with my beloved to meet me at the entrance  and as I returned to the tidepool for that rendezvous I spotted one of my favorite little fish.  As we have discussed previously, the juvenile Raccoon Butterflyfish is distinctive from the adult form.  On this morning I spotted a large juvenile (perhaps three inches LOA)  still wearing the extra spot on is trailing dorsal fin.  Luckily, there was a small adult in the neighborhood and I was able to catch the two of them in a single frame.  

   To which you reply, "What a fascinating and educational display!"   Assuming that you are not already asleep.

 

   Here is a second photo of just the juvenile which more clearly demonstrates that pattern. The Sargent Major in the background appears to be wondering what all the fuss is about.  Little does he know.

   The previous night, after singing Christmas carols at the Lutheran Church, Sandra and I had a nice conversation with Rebekah, Pastor Brian's lovely young wife.  She recalled talking to us a year ago about our annual yuletide quest for the Christmas Wrasse.  She was not previously aware of this fish and it seemed was rather amused at our yearly tradition.  When I told her about my knee and the wrasses's habit of living in turbulent water requiring a bit of swimming skill on the part of the observer she was concerned.  And so are we.  But it seems like Sandra and I will be able to answer the call. 

     And the rest is up to Poseidon.  Or is it Kanaloa?

jeff