A Christmas Wrasse on Christmas Eve 2023

I'm dreaming of a white urchin.

    Two days ago Sandra and I went snorkeling together at Kahalu'u.  We picked a time based on tide, halfway between full and empty it was going to be one foot at one o'clock, and the wave conditions, which were mild.  We also noted the weather, which was just about the opposite of what Bing Crosby crooned in Mele Kalikimaka.   His Hawaiian Christmas was clear and bright while what Kona was experiencing was stormy with a chance of meatballs.  Did I get that right?

     Hence, at the height of Christmas vacation the bay was almost deserted.  But the water was still somewhere on the warm side of frigid as the two of us pushed off towards the corner, going for the Christmas Wrasse first.  Just as we reached the boulders near Alii Drive, we heard a gentle pattering, like someone making popcorn in the next room.  Yes, Virginia, big fat raindrops were falling on my head.  And Sandra's, too, for that matter.  When you're already submerged, the latent heat of evaporation doesn't come into play, so the effect was actually pleasant.  Perhaps this is the closest you can get to a White Christmas in Kona.

Stout Moray with lockigen haar.  Kahalu'u December 2023

     And the tutu sings, "I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas, on any cold Hawaiian day. Where the puddles glisten, and keikis listen, to hear raindrops in the bay."

    Undeterred, we swam on.  Almost out to the Rescue Shelter, we were met by a nice, fat Christmas Wrasse speeding in the other direction.  Hoping for a picture, I struggled to free the camera, but before I could shoot he was long gone. Aloha nui loa.

     By this time, the rain had stopped and we made our way into the middle of the bay.  There we saw a bunch of long spined urchins and one that was almost white.  Well, maybe it only seemed that way.  But it was different enough that I held out hope for something special, even though it fell into the standards of the Banded Urchin.   I even sent this picture to John Hoover, who must be bored, because he wrote back immediately, confirming what it said in his book.  "Sometimes those urchins are almost all white. Check out p.313 of the creature book."  Which I already had.  Why do I waste his time?

A Plump Puffer and His Christmas Cleaner

     A bit further along, we saw this nice eel, golden of hue and with an unusual rectilinear pattern behind his head.  He was  just brave enough to maintain his position while I dove to take his picture, which he promised to put on a Christmas card and send to all his slithery relations as soon as he can get to the post office.  As long as I was boring John Hoover with urchins, I ran this one by him and he conformed, despite the interesting  geometric patch, stout moray. 

   Finally, we saw this fine chubby puffer with an attentive cleaner wrasse, always a treat.

     Sadly, the following morning, it was revealed that the snorkeling experience had left the lovely Miss Sandra hors de combat.  Or at least, hors de plongées libres., as Jaques Cousteau might have intoned.

    Accepting what life gives us, in the late morning, following our yuletide run to the yard debris, I was dropped off at the pier for a swim on Paul Allen's Reef.  As an aside, it almost doesn't seem like Christmas in Kona without Paul's helicopter hovering over the Kailua Pier.   

Yellowtail Scad in the Inner Harbour,  Christmas Eve 2023

    Christmas Eve was overcast, but not raining.  Starting out in the Inner Harbour, the water was cold, but tolerable, and only a bit cloudy.  This was lucky, because out by Kamehameha's heiau I ran into a school of Yellowtail Scad.  This was only my second experience with this species.  Unlike its far more common cousin, the Big-eye Scad, yellowtails tends to live in deeper water, as opposed to inshore bays.  So while far from rare, it is not seen commonly by snorkelers.  And is not found on any page in Hoover's fish book.

Saint Freckleface perched upon his Christmas Coral

    Shortly thereafter, I saw a juvenile Surge Wrasse.  Very similar to Thalasoma yuletideii.   In the pas,t and under duress, I have been tempted to claim this fish for the completion of the Christmas Wrasse on Christmas Day quest.  The juveniles are very similar, but there are a couple good clues to separate them and to the best of my recollection I have not succumbed to that Grinchy temptation.  

   The water was much warmer in the small bay that faces both the luau grounds of the Kamehameha Hotel and the entrance to Paul Allen's lagoon.  And in patches it was fairly clear.  On one clump of meandrina coral I spotted a small Freckle Faced hawkfish that held still.  And there were other fish, but not a profusion. 

   I checked a couple other cauliflower corals for Spotted Scorpionfish and Coral Croucher, but to no avail.  And then I turned towards the point that separates this small inlet from Kailua Bay proper.  And this is when all hell broke loose.  What had been a peaceful pond was now a very bumpy ride with lots of current and slosh.  I hate C and S, don't you?  I had hoped for a Christmas Wrasse in this area, but I was distracted by the need to stay clear of the rocks.  Without seeing too much, I made it around the point where there were a few of the usual suspects and then turned back.  

Whitespotted Surgeon at the entrance to Paul Allen's Lagoon

   It had been relatively calm on the ocean side, but back in the inlet it was actually rougher.  As I approached the entrance to Paul Allen's lagoon , I was greeted by three Whitespotted Surgeons.  A fish usually seen where the waves are breaking violently against the rocks, their presence here was indicative of the turbulent conditions.  

   The Whitespotted Surgeons were joined in the moving water by a pair of Sailfin Tangs and a school of yellow Tangs.  I got a couple pictures of this group, which was cavorting right in the lagoon entrance.   As it turns out, the lagoon entrance is formed by steep walls of lava reaching down ten feet or so, deep enough to provide a safe channel for boats at low tide.  Now these rocks, ordinarily ignored by the casual snorkeler, were being buffeted by waves, creating a playground for these kings of the surf.  

We Three Kings of Paul Allen' Lagoon.  /  We're determined to make Jeff look a buffoon.

The Christmas Wrasse on Christmas Eve 2023

    Well, I made it across the lagoon entrance, a mere forty feet, to the opposing ridge of steep lava, and there I struck pay dirt.   In the swirling water was a large, beautiful Christmas Wrasse.  He was swimming hither and yon, the light conditions were terrible  and the water was turbulent and full of debris, but a picture, the type that verifies what you saw regardless of pleasing aeshetic quality, was mandatory.  I took a bunch of pictures and you see the best. 

     As I was working on getting a picture, while placing a priority on keeping myself afloat, a smaller Christmas Wrasse swam by.  Much smaller, but with full adult coloration.  I tried to get his picture, as well, but only succeeded in getting a tail on perspective.

    While what you see here is not fit for a Christmas card, it at least it documents our success on Christmas Eve in Kona.   

    The swim wasn't over.  I made it across the bay uneventfully, but ended up  a good distance to the left of the entrance into the Inner Harbour.  As I made my turn, a juvenile five stripe wrasse swam by.  I followed him for a bit and attempted some pictures.  The deplorable conditions persisted and he wasn't really a very pretty fish.  As I was failing at this endeavor, an even smaller, less colorful five stripe appeared. 

   In lieu of showing you another poor picture, I'm including a picture of the same fish, initial phase Five Stripe Wrasse, taken in exactly the same spot on Christmas Day 2018.  Merry Christmas from the editorial staff at the blog.

   Admitting the futility of this enterprise I started for the harbor entrance.  Perhaps I wasn't paying attention, which isn't the best thing to do when you are swimming by yourself in the ocean, but I made a wrong turn onto rip rap that terminated on the wave tossed shore.  Luckily I was able to turn around with only a few bumps, and no cuts, and found the correct rip rap to swim over.   Soon enough I was back inside, where young families from places like Fresno and Omaha were enjoying the calm, frigid water. 

The Warrior of Kalikimaka.

   On shore, I was  standing in front of the Kona Boys shack, putting on my hat and dark glasses when a gentleman stepped into the shallows a few yards away.  Bare to the waist, he struck a pose like a Hawaiian petroglyph and then at the top of his lungs he exclaimed, " I have been a warrior!  I killed ten years ago! This is my testimony!..." It went on for an uncomfortable while.  The people from Omaha were aghast, but the ones from Fresno were like,  "Just get on with it."

     And that's how it is when you go snorkeling at the Kona Pier on Christmas.   

Mele Kalikimaka. 

 jeff   

It's Christmastime in Kona

The shampoo that entices a pretty wrasse.

     A few days ago it turned into Christmastime in Kona.  Traffic picked up and the number of unfamiliar people walking in our neighborhood rose dramatically.   Figuring that all this would translate into a lot of full contact snorkelers at our favorite little bay, we headed down early.  Before 9:00 AM things were busy, but not out of hand.  

    As I have returned to snorkeling, I have been  tweaking my rusty list of preparations.   As an example, I had exchanged text messages with Bob Hillis while Sandra and I were at the Aloha Theater.  He recommended baby shampoo for sea drops.   With a freshly cleaned mask and the Hillis formula, we were determined to have a good look at what God had to offer. 

    Along with the baby shampoo, I was on this day incorporating a  bamboo walking stick for entry. into my armamentarium. One needs to fall off the Little League bleachers once or twice (among other humiliating things) to understand that he needs all the help he can get in tricky situations where good footing and balance are at a premium.  

Christmas Wrasse, Kahalu'u.  December 2023

   It was a really high tide and Sandra served as my Bat Girl, getting me safely over the shore rocks, then taking the stick back to our table, there to wait for the next call to duty.  After all that, she headed off to the KTA, hoping for something special for dinner.   

   When I was texting with Bob about baby shampoo, he mentioned that he was looking forward to our Christmas Day hunt for the eponymous wrasse.  I have been thinking about the annual Christmas Wrasse on our Christmas Day hunt as well,  and with that in mind, as I swam out into the bay, I turned right, heading for the inshore  corner of the bay where I felt it was most likely we would see the colorful and elusive object of our holiday hunt. 

I

Barred Jack, Kahalu'u, February 2012

   On this day the gods were with us and as soon as I got in my preferred position among the boulders, a Christmas Wrasse appeared.  This was a full sized adult with handsome coloration.  He swam rapidly, as they are wont to do, but stayed with me for about five minutes during which I took several pictures.  

     As I was enjoying the wrasse, it was apparent that this was a good morning for fish in general.  As I was working on getting a good picture of the Christmas Wrasse, a pair of Barred Jacks raced by.   I had the camera in hand but by the time I snapped off a shot, they were receding into the distance.  

    Barred Jack is not a rare fish, but in our inshore bays it is much less common than Christmas Wrasse, which is far from an every day fish.   As you can see from the caption, I created this nice picture in 2012.  It doesn't seem like 2012 should be all that long ago, but, obviously, its more than a decade.  Hmmm. 

    I swam out along the shoreline, where the waves break on the lava.  This twenty yards of wave swept rock is all good habitat for the Christmas Wrasse, but I did not see another.  Clearly that first one was a gift. If we choose this swim on Christmas Day can we count on another such gift?

Red Labrid Wrasse, Kahalu'u December 2023

   At the Rescue Shelter I headed out across the bay.  I didn't see any special animals in this area, but I narrowly avoided a fellow snorkeler heading out bound at full speed. 

    Having avoided disaster, I headed in and in a short distance passed a pair of Oval (formerly Rainbow) butterflyfish.  These are sort of unusual in Kahalu'u, but quite expectable at the pier.  Had this pair ventured in to enjoy high tide conditions or are they extending their range due to global warming?  These small differences in range may be significant.  Perhaps not on the same scale as the Humpback Whales staying in Alaska to breed, but every little change is worth noting

  In almost the same spot, I found a fine Red Labrid Wrasse.  I love all our keikis, but I have to admit that this is the flashiest baby in Hawaii.  The juvenile of the Yellowtail Coris, it is probably the fish that causes novice fishwatchers to insist that they saw Nemo (or one of his ilk) while snorkeling in the Aloha State.  

Triton's Trumpet resting in the sand.

    This fish was large for a baby, yet with no evidence of transition and was cooperative, giving me a chance to take some pictures.   

     I had some more time before my rendezvous with Sandra, so I swam across to the Menehune breakwater.  The tide was so high that I might have been able to thread my way all the way into the ocean  (if I was sufficiently brave or insane).  I didn't see anything special there, although I was by myself and an octopus seemed possible.  Way back in the day we used to call this area Butterflyfish Flats, because we saw both Klein's (Blacklip) and Citron (Speckled) there on one productive spring vacation.  Alas, there were relatively few fish, butterfly or otherwise on Butterflyfish Flats on this high tide morning.

If you use your imagination you might see a hermit crab.

    On the way back, however, I saw a magnificent shell resting inconspicuously on the sand between a couple pieces of coral.  It was only four feet down, so I dove and retrieved it.  It turned out to be a large Triton's Trumpet, one of my favorite shells.  And this one was in excellent condition.  Almost as big as my fist, this was a large shell.  Lacking an operculum, I assumed it was no longer home to a snail.  As such, it might be the home for a large hermit crab.   Although the tide was high, there was little wave action at that moment and I was able to rest the shell on a coral, just a foot below the surface.  I watched it for a couple minutes, taking a few pictures and sending out welcoming vibes, but to no avail.

    I was hoping for a really large ornate or a blood crab.  And such a crab may have been hiding deep inside the shell.  But, I saw no evidence of an emerging claw and  I couldn't wait forever.  So I put the shell back in the sand, face down, a potential home for some lucky crustacean in search of swanky digs.   

    Well, this had already been a very satisfying swim, but on the way in, almost to the edge of the shore lava, I saw a healthy Milletseed Butterflyfish.  A few years ago, when this species was flickering out in K Bay, there was a raggedy straggler that struggled to hang on.  He was a sad puppy.  

Milletseed Butterflyfish, Kahalu'u December 2023

    Milletseeds used to be common at Kahalu'u and they occurred in a large school, twenty or more fish.  This guy, as I'm certain that you will attest, looked gorgeous and robust.  Perhaps he is the vanguard of a milletseed revival.  Wouldn't that be sweet?

    Sandra met me at the shore, tossed me my stick and soon enough I was showered off and changed.  At the table next to me was a petite Asian lady with precise make up.  One has to wonder, was she hoping to impress the fish?  Her male consort soon appeared and I asked him, "Are you guys from Japan?"  

   No, they were Korean.  And like most Koreans, quite friendly.  I told them about the Korean kids that played Little League baseball with Colsen back in Camas, and especially about the parents with whom I had become friends.  One of the dads had taught me a word he used to cheer on the his son and on occasion the rest of the team.  Chua! , which I am told means Great! Sadly, Google interpreter doesn't help me with the spelling  (All I get is lines of inscrutable Korean script)    But my new friends recognized what I was saying.  And we ended our visit with a Korean cheer which pretty much summed up this day at K Bay.  Chuaaa!

jeff

A Bloody Hermit crab emerges from a well worn Titon's Trumpet,  and he has a quiz for you!  If you can name Nemo's father, you will decipher the delicious fish that Sandra scored at the KTA for dinner.

Kawaihae

Kawaihae in December.

       For our first swim together, Sandra and I chose to venture north to Kawaihae.  I have an upcoming gig with the Keiki Museum to recreate a portion of a cement pillar in the harbor, covered with various yucky fouling organisms, sponges in a variety of authentic colors, nudibranchs, shrimp, etc.  And we have sort of arranged a communal swim with our liaison to the museum, the effervescent Anne Van Brunt, so that she can get a better vision of the project that she is designing.  Hence, Sandra and I had a compelling reason to generate an up to date report on all that fancy muck.

    We got an early start and arrived at Kawaihe around 9:00 AM.  It was a strikingly beautiful morning, bright blue sky with only a few fluffy clouds, Mauna Loa snaking its way into the sea and only a few like minded, harbor loving individuals in the vicinity.  Soon enough we were in the gear we had chosen for the excursion, Sandra in a dive skin and your faithful correspondent in his neoprene vest sans leggings.  

The Banded Coral Shrimp Plays the Coquette

     As we sat on the LST landing platform, adjusting our fins and mask, we were greeted by a large dog.  He was patiently waiting while his owner paddled around the platforms.  There was a piece of rebar protruding from the sand and a submerged leash, but the hound was unattached and able to saunter over and get his ears scratched.  What a good boy!  

   I beat Sandra into the water by a minute or two and by the time she joined me at the first platform, I had already found a banded coral shrimp.  Previously, these handsome crustaceans were easy to spot inside the platform, requiring a bit of hydrobatics for a good look.  This fellow was on the outside, but tucked under a coral ledge.  His flamboyant antennae gave him away and every now and then he would extend a  claw in an attempt to get me to do something stupid in order to get a better good look.  At this point I just put the camera under the ledge and attempted to get the on board computer to do the heavy lifting.  I got a poor picture that showed a blurry, if identifiable, banded coral shrimp. 

The keiki scribble aligns against the pillar.

      We circled the first platform and then headed out to the second.  Here we found the pillars covered with raggy fouling vegetation, but relatively few sponges and no visible feather duster worms or hydroids.  And despite a careful search, no nudibranchs.  As I was completing my circuit, Sandra called me urgently.  She had unearthed (or is it unwatered?) a juvenile Scribbled Filefish.  We had watched one of these keikis in this very location a couple years ago, and it is a real treat.  Aluterus scriptus is a funny looking fish even in the adult form, but the baby is especially ungainly. In the past a smaller fish had attempted to fool us by aligning with a bit of submerged rope.  This guy, as you can see, thought that lining up with a pillar would throw us off the chase.

 
       Still under the threat of a nudibranch skunking, we headed out to platform three.  Here, on the shady west side, I found a fine Gloomy Nudibranch.  I have been making nudibranchs for the museum display.   In spite of the fact that this is among the three most common at Kawaihae, I have yet to attempt a gloomy.  This is a very handsome animal, and the flamboyant gills are perhaps the best part.  Flat and branching, with a two tone cream and black coloration, gloomy gills would look simply smashing on a royal chapeau at Ascot. My skill with the clay is such that rendering these gills would be impossible.  Stay tuned to see my next effort at creating gloomy gills on a clay model. 

Gloomy gills, a milliner's dream.

   As we finished up on the third platform, I was plagued with equipment issues.  On my first swim back, at Kahalu'u, I had experienced unsustainable mask fogging.  I thought that if I applied more and better sea drops, this would not be an issue.  But now it was.  Seeing is believing and not seeing is unacceptaable, especially if you are swimming around a complicated structure.

    Spitting in the mask helped a little, but in the preocess I dislodged my hat.  Attempting to get everything rearranged, I ended up losing my glove.  No amount of searching would reveal it.  This is more of an issue at Kawaihae than at most places.  And having suffered one significant finger infection, I am unhappy without some protection at any site.  Here we had no choice but to soldier on, but I needed to be a lot more careful when positioning against the pillars and the coral.  Bummer. 

Blacktail Snapper in the shade of the third platform.

    Between the third platform and the finger jetty, we encountered a large school of Blacktail Snappers.  These beautiful fish were introduced to Hawaii as a potential food source.  However both the blacktail and the Bluestripe Snapper have proved to be ciguatoxic in Hawaii.   The bluestripe is often seen in large schools, but in most circumstances one sees the blacktail singly or in small groups.  Here a large school provided an interesting visual.  In the shade of the third platform, with their bright pectoral fins showed brilliantly in the dark water.  

   Well, we had our nudibranch and Sandra was getting cold, so it was time to head in.  As we approached the first platform, I sent her ahead and took one more try at the Banded Coral Shrimp.  The little darling hadn't moved, so it was just a matter of diving down a few feet, hanging on, twisting and looking up, focusing and get the shot.  Easy, right? 

The Irresistable Shrimp in his Lair.

    Well, I got my shot, but in the process I found myself in an intimate embrace with the adjacent pillar.  In the event, my picture wasn't quite as nice as I hoped, but Kanaloa awarded me a fine little laceration on my thigh for my troubles.  And that is why the gods created betadine.

 Swim safe and prosper,

jeff

The Return of the Nose or a New Starfish for K Bay

    A new blog has been a long time coming.   In large part this is because on October 25th I had Moh's surgery on my nose.  When the diagnosis (skin cancer of the nose) was made in Portland in June, I was told I needed this special surgery, but so many other Oregonians were ahead of me in line that it was a six month waiting list.  Is this what it's like in Canada?  The silver lining to this deplorable cloud was that I might be able to have the surgery at Kaiser in Hawaii.  Strange as it may seem, within a fortnight of our arrival back in Kona, I was scheduled for the following week. 

The Buddha's Cup Awaits a Lucky Lepidopterist.

     It took five weeks to heal my schnoz sufficiently to warrant a return to the sea.  In the meantime we have tried to keep  busy. 

   One day we went with one of the directors of the Keiki Museum to an upland coffee farm here in Holualoa,  Buddha's Cup.  Our friend Anne, had heard from Siddhartha's companion that there were Kamehameha butterflies among their māmaki plants.  Anne made it sound like an extensive plantation, after all, the coffee company markets māmaki tea.  But when were deployed, boots on the ground as it were, there were six māmaki  shrubs spread out over an acre.  We spent almost  two hours patrolling the beat, waiting for Vanessa tameamea to flutter by.  Hence, from just after 10 until we went bat shit crazy around noon, we got an eyeful of Hawaiian nettle and, suffice it to say, zero butterflies. 

Is this the creepiest creche of all time, or what?

    I really wanted to write a blog.  Had we been successful,  I believe it would have been the first confirmed sighting of this threatened butterfly in Kona.  But who wants to be the publisher of the Journal of Negative Results?  If you want to take your chances, Google maps will guide you two miles up a windy one lane road to the Buddha's Cup coffee plantation where they serve food, offer tours at great expense and serve absolutely delicious coffee.  For a price Ugatti, for a price. 

    At other times I have kept busy making butterflies for an upcoming workshop, and nudibranchs and caterpillars.  And here you thought "only God can make a caterpillar"...Alfred Joyce Kilmer, loosely.   

     These latter are fashioned from fast drying clay that the previously mentioned Mrs. Van Brunt supplied me  at one of our weekly meetings.  Its like Anne has been my occupational therapist these last five weeks. She makes it appear that she works for free in this capacity, but this is an illusion. She is repaid in paper mache fish , clay nudibranchs...  the list goes on.  Both Sandra and I love her immeasurably.

   Sandra has a joke for you:  What do call a butterfly with no wings?   A caterpillar! 

A handsome Cylindrical Starfish, Kahalu'u  December 2023

      At any rate, today we let the nose lead us into the water at Kahalu'u.  It was a little rough and very choppy.  Additionally,  I am now so out of shape that it's ridiculous.  But in the nose's half hour at sea, he did spy a cleaning station with the eponymous wrasse doing his duty on a couple manini, and this nice  starfish. At first I thought it was a linckia star.  But more careful examination reveals those longitudinal plates marching down the arms.   As it turns out,  this is a life starfish for both the nose and the guy that follows along close behind.  A Cylindrical Star, D. cylindricus.  Although I have not previously recorded this species, it may not be highly unusual.  A furtive fellow, he spends his life (according to the Oracle of Ola'a, John Hoover himself) hiding under rocks.  And who am I to turn my nose up at a life starfish?  In the spirit of twitchers everywhere, I say Tick it off!  

     So the nose is on duty and he promises to sniff out something interesting in the near future.  Unless, of course,  the beast is under water in which case the nose will mind his manners and stay in the mask.

jeff