The Eels of Kahaluu

    Kahalu'u is one of our easiest spots to snorkel and the one promoted by the entrepreneurs that greet the sea going rats as they disembark from Carinival Lines cruise ships.  The maddening crowd aside, it does produce some delightful animals, among which are a couple of the less common eels.

Yellow Margin Moray, 10 ft. Ho'okena December 2011

    Snowflake (Echidna nebulosa) and Stout (Gymnothorax eurostus) are actually in the top six of common eels here in Kona.  I see them less frequently than Yellow Margin, White Mouth and Undulated.  Here's the thing that makes Kahaluu special in this regard:  Year after year I'm getting very close looks at mature individuals about the length and diameter of a tube of wrapping paper.  And they are shallow, only two to three feet deep.  so I can go down, hang onto the bottom and put a camera in their face with what I am hoping is sufficient impunity.
    Let me contrast this with another eel we have here in Kona.  Yellow Margin Moray Eels are common and approachable.  They have a friendly look like the Pit Bull that your drug dealing neighbor claims is just a gentle pooch. Frequently they are as big around as the upper arm of an NFL linebacker.   And you often find them a little deeper, say ten feet below the surface.  Sufficiently separated from your favorite source of good old uncle oxygen to make things interesting.  

Spike, 15 turbulent feet, Kona Makai, February 2011

    Just last week a gentleman who swims here at Kona Makai was attempting to photograph a Yellow Margin and he got bit on the wrist.  Lucky for him, he wasn't very tasty and the eel spit him out.  Almost always when I have read the headline "Eel bites man!",   it turns out that it was a dive guide (he was wearing his source of oxygen) and he was feeding the eel by hand to amuse his clients.  The eel confused his thumb with a bit of fish and "Accidente!" you've got a shredded thumb.  Eels teeth angle backwards, increasing the difficulty of freeing one's appendage.  Squeezing the head, cutting off the head (Do you carry a knife?...I don't.) or ripping free are the choices.
    Maurice's story should give all us eel watching photographers pause, especially if we don't want to end up on two antibiotics...or very still on a slab in the morgue.  (Did you experience an involuntary shudder?  I did.)

Snowflake Moray, 3 feet, Khalu'u, December 2011

    Back to happy little eels, so small as to be unable to get a grip on your arm and so shallow that good old oxygen is really close.  Given the implied danger, its fun to take pictures of eels.  They tend to stay in one place and they are very beautiful.  the picture of the Snowflake, taken just a week ago, shows a very white individual, enhancing the ochre and black spots.  Later in the season I'll share a picture of last years snowflake who was much browner.  You can decide which is more beautiful.
     The picture of the Stout Moray was taken just a couple days ago.  These guys tend to be a little more shy than the Snowflakes.  This fellow writhed  back and forth in his fenestrated chunk of coral.  In this picture you get a good look at his face and also his body, sporting round white spots with black and pastel blue margins.

Stout Moray, Kahalu'u, December 2011,  3 feet.

    Yellow margins are also attractive.  Did you notice the handsome chartreuse lining on Spike's tail?   And they are Oh so friendly!
    I hope that you enjoyed the pictures of the eels.   I know that I'm looking forward to my next eel encounter and hope to get some good pictures.  and I hope that there are many handsome eels in your future as well.  But lets try to keep a safe distance from Spike! 

jeff