A moring at Kahalu'u including the juvenile Shortnose Wrasse

    This morning it was supposed to rain and that put a monkey wrench in the day's agenda, which was slated to feature doing the laundry.  This being Hawaii, where electricity is ridiculously expensive, we dry our undies in the sunshine on lines strung web-like across the lanai.  Its tres upper crust, dahling,  More like Dogpatch goes island living.  

The resident Milletseed, January 2026

   Anyway, we couldn't dry laundry in the rain, so I checked the wave predictor, which looked good, and the tides. Tides4fishing proclaimed that there would be a high low tide today, never lower than half a foot.  With the stars lined up like that, it was time to head to Kahalu'u.                                          

     We got to K Bay around 8 AM.  Yasuko was extracting parking fees from the tourists and the meet and greet part of the operation was being handled by Haley (with an H, like the comet.) She may be more competent in the fish watching department than some of the other reef teachers (God bless them, one and all), so I asked if anything new had come up recently.  As it turned out, she had been sick, so was not up to speed on what might be skulking about in the bay.

 

 Soon I was swimming.  the water was calm with modest current, as we had hoped and not too cold. 

     Early in the swim I spotted a the resident Milletseed Butterfly.  this guy may have lived here for a couple years.  Butterflyfish eat coral polyps, so his pickings are probably just enough for one as K Bay coral is on the decline.

Spiteful Cone, K Bay 2026

     Soon after, I found a large cone shell.  I'm calling this a Spiteful Cone, Conus lividus.  It was about 4 inches in length, which is pretty big.  I handled it carefully and got the pictures you see here.  It's not a very pretty species.  Hoover tells us it is fairly common, although I don't see it often.  I had been under the impression that it possessed a dangerous sting, but research tells us that it eats marine worms and its sting is painful, but far from fatal.   

I played carefully with this guy to position him for the shot you see.  At this point I was under the impression that the sting could be fatal, so I took care to keep my gloved hand away from the small, pointy end from which the siphon and the stinger protrude.

     Cone shells that kill and eat fish are the dangerous ones to humans.  In Hawaii that would be the Textile Cone.  In my experience, this species is rarely seen, and I've never seen one over two inches in length.  So, it would appear that vis a vis cone shells, we're safe.

     I made it over to the corner by the Menehune Breakwater.  As it was early and there were few swimmers, I was hoping for an octopus. We saw nothing of much interest there, so I back tracked and headed up the middle.  

     

    

         

 There, among the living corals, I had some success.  A juvenile shortnose Wrasse was schooling with some juvenile belted wrasse.   We had heard from Kathleen a few weeks ago that one of these had been seen, so I was very pleased, but not totally surprised.  This was a very active little fish, floating with the currents, making sudden bursts in unpredictable directions.  I followed it for a few minutes taking several still shots.  This was going nowhere so I took a short video.  And that is what you see above.  

 

 It took me about an hour to shorten this clip to a length that the blog would accept.  I hope you enjoy it.  

    While I was chasing the juvenile Shortnose Wrasse, a Freckled Hawkfish appeared at my elbow.  They are shy, but they seem so friendly, what with the freckles.  So, I'll leave you with Mr. Freckles and hope you have a great day.   

jeff