A Mahukona Update

 As you know, I have long regarded Mahukona as one of the best spots on the Kona coast to watch fish.  The entry is reliable, the water clear and it has been home to some species seldom seen elsewhere.

Gone are  the days when the  Blacklip was found at Mahukona

    A few days ago I snorkeled there for an hour with our friend Peter.  Both Sandra and Marla are currently hors de combat, vids a vis snorkeling,  so it was just us guys in the sea.

    The water was clear and not as cold as I feared, but almost immediately I began wondering, "Where are the fish?"  Not seeing much in the small bay, where in the past we have seen blacklip butterfly, we swam out to the reef on the north cusp.  Luckily the surf was mild and we were able to peruse the mostly bare lava.  There we saw many five striped wrasse in all their glorious stages of development, along with a number of juvenile Christmas Wrasse.

   Over the ridge, in the next bay to the north, Peter saw three Scribbled Filefish and a male Spectacled Parrot.  Apparently I am what the French call les incompetent, for even with his guidance I came up empty on this account.

    Swimming back across mouth of the bay, we saw Chocolate Dip and Oval Chromis.  The chocolates

Heller's Barracuda were not to be found.

were deeper than 15 feet, precluding photography of this handsome species by yours truly.  And, let's face it, Oval Chromis is a species only a fishwatcher can love.  A photo of an oval might induce the casual observer to say, "Yeah, its a fish.  So what?"  But I enjoyed them, anyway.  

    The rest of the circuit yielded little.  No Blue Stripe Butterfly (which should have been a sure thing) and no Heller's Barracuda.  Peter assures us that Yellowtail Filefish is still there, but none were seen on this day.

   Up the ladder and ashore, we enjoyed a look at a whale just outside the bay.  I thought he was less than a hundred yards from where we stood on the edge of the pier... clearly in an area where we have swam in the past.  And we wondered, what would it be like to swim close to one of those behemoths?  Awesome?  Frightening? 

We'll see the bluestripe next time!

   Right below our feet on the rocks I got a good look at a Painted Lady Butterfly.  This was just my second sighting of this species in Hawaii, with the distinctive wing spots, and the relatively few number of possibilities, this was an easy identification.   And I'm afraid that this was at least as exciting as anything I saw in the water. 

    Peter thought the fish we saw constituted a pretty good outing and I still think that Mahukona is an excellent spot.  So we'll be back and see something good the next time.

jeff