It has been pointed out to me that my blog production has not been up to snuff, bordering on pathetic. Not only that, but Christmas Day, that high holiday when we celebrate the birth of the eponymous wrasse, is rapidly approaching. So get it together, old timer! Dust off those flippers and hit the water.
 |
| A Fat Christmas Wrasse, 2016 |
We have been back in Kona for well over a month and, counting today, I have only been snorkeling three times. the most recent was three weeks ago. I went swimming by myself on the Ironman side of the pier. There were very few swimmers and a smattering of the fish that one might expect. Not enough variety, I reasoned, to justify a blog.
Early on that day, I had a good look at a Finescale Triggerfish and towards the end, a very good look at a medium sized Undulated Moray. This chestnut hued eel is the bad boy notorious for biting careless swimmers, so I kept my distance.
And then the swell came in. Kona has now experienced excellent surfing conditions daily for almost two weeks.
Today, goaded by two of my most faithful friends, I went swimming with the intention of churning our something in the way of a blog. I started my swim in front of the Marriott and swam out to Paul Allen's Lagoon. The water close in was quite chilly, but by the time I was finning past Kamehameha's heiau, it wasn't too bad. Not warm, but tolerable.
 |
| Finescale Triggerfish on the Ironman side, 2024 |
Beside the heiau I saw the green fringed tail of a modest Yellow margin moray as he slid under a rock. That fringe is a very pretty chartreuse and that alone might have made my swim worthwhile. Which is a good thing, for in the next half hour, out in the bay, it was usual suspects. And not too many of those!
On my way in, just over the breakwater, I had fleeting glimpse of a bright orange filefish tail. Of course, I wanted this to be an aspricaudus, the Yellow Tail Filefish. Unfortunately, there were lots of Barred Filefish around. The big guys remind me of tin garbage can covers. The smaller Barred Filefish, probably females, have more color and a yellow tail. I hung around, dove down and looked at the space between the rip rap into which the fish had disappeared. Aspricaudus is a furtive fish, and my efforts yielded nada. So, we might have seen this unusual filefish just inside the opening past the heiau. If you happen to be swimming there, keep an eye peeled.
 |
| Yellowtail Filefish |
I don't have a good picture of this handsome, but exceptionally shy fish. Here you see a photo borrowed from a talented fish photographer, Scott Rettig, taken on the Kohala coast. Maybe Mahukona, or there abouts.
As the persistent swell is coming from the north, there was very little wave driven surf on the north cusp of Kailua Bay. The water was cool, but remarkably clear considering the persistent swell. I saw nary a Christmas Wrasse, hardly any wrasses at all, but this can change. My swimming buddy, Kathy Yoder is arriving later this week and with luck we'll have something exciting to report.
If you're in the lower 48, stay warm and be safe.
jeff
