Baby Citron premiers in The Circus at the Pier

A pair of Ulae in Kailua Crystal.

    There really isn't a circus at the Kailua pier...it just seems like it.  On January 2nd I took myself for a swim on the Kailua side of the pier.  The water has continued to be calm, so I figured why not?  We still need a Finescale Triggerfish for the trip and for my money this swim is the best chance for that pelagic vagrant.
  Their was the usual mob of kids and their parents screaming in the shallows.   On this day the rug rats were joined by a group of eight or more novice divers kneeling in the waist-deep water with their tanks and wet suits, looking like a bunch of extras from a 70's James Bond movie.  Just so we knew this was a serious swimming venue, there was also a mob of distance swimmers churning out and back along the swim buoys.  And last, but not least, their was a few untrained board paddlers attempting to keep their balance while paddling aimlessly back and forth.  It really was a circus.

A Yellow Tang so lovely it could break your heart.

    The amazing thing is, the moment you get face down in the water you are in a world of your own...at least until one of the above runs into you.  The water this day, courtesy of the Creepy Calm, was crystal clear.  A pair of large Ulae (Hawaiian Lizardfish) greeted me in the sandy shallows.  There were a smaller number of fish than usual as I swam out to the Palace.  So few, in fact, that the crystal water seduced me into photographing some of the usual suspects.
   On the way back, I found a cowry shell.  About three weeks ago, one of the tourists at the sunset ceremony (we all get together at the seawall and the drinkers drink while the rest of us bemoan that the overcast horizon) made the observation that cowry shells lying on the sand are empty.  By this definition, I had found a deserted cowry shell, about an inch and a half and in pristine condition.  I dove the six feet, admired my prize and stashed it in my pocket.

Can you see the wings and  halo on this Paddling Angel?

This guy, on the other hand, is hazard to navigation!

   I got a couple pictures of Yellow Tang   This is a beautiful fish that is under appreciated, by me anyway, because it is so common.  I was working on an intermediate Yellowtail Coris, diving down and holding onto a large piece of rubble, when a shadow passed across the scene.  Letting go and bobbing to the surface, I was confronted by a paddle surfboard about 8 inches form my head.  My ire was checked as I realized that the menace was piloted by a nubile, blonde twenty something poised on her knees.  In deference to my antagonists charms, I said, "Thank you for not running into me."  Who would have guessed I could be so polite?
   She replied softly, "I can't make this thing go where I want and I was hoping I wouldn't hit you."  As we agreed that not hitting me in the head with a surfboard was a noble goal, I smiled and said, "Have a nice day!" or words to that effect and we went our separate ways.  However, I took the precaution of checking out all the other untrained board paddlers that had swarmed into the shallows.     
   Before getting out, I swam over to the area where the tenders tie up to embark the sea-going rats for their quick hop back to the Queen Mary.  Just the week before, I had scored a pair of Italian sunglasses in eight feet adjacent to this quay.   My new specs aren't quite clear enough to use for driving, but they look really snazzy and one certainly can't argue with the price.

   It should be of interest to you readers who snorkel the waters surrounding the pier,  that the Port of Kailua, when it replaced the modest swim buoys with  new, larger and sparkling white buoys suitable for ocean navigation,  did not extend the floating swim buoy-line to the shore.   In my twisted mind,  this opens the area along the quay to the swimmer's discretion.  On days when the cruise ships are not in Kailua  (and there is no tender activity) I am opting to patrol this area before calling it a day.

Baby Citron stars in the circus!  Kailua Pier, January 2012.

    With that in mind, I made my second foray along the pier.  Near the end of the tender area there as a large rock about fifteen feet off shore and six feet deep.  And around that rock swam a small Citron Butterflyfish.  The Citron (not to be confused with the Milletseed, that lacks the white and black stripe ventral fin)  is not the most unusual butterfly.  I have seen Klein's (also called Blacklip) only once in Kona and its been a few years since I've seen Bluestripe.  But I've seen Citron in Hawaii only tow other times.  (There was a pair that lived in the little entrance bay at Honokohau for a year, and I'm only counting them as a single sighting.)  As butterflyfish frequently stay in one spot, this fish is definitely worth mentioning.  I hope you have a chance to look for it! 
    After taking a few pictures of the baby Citron, I swam ashore and headed for the shower.  While I was changing, I smelled an unpleasant odour.  Could one of the Kona irregulars have defecated in the changing room?  No!  It was my very swimsuit!  Accidente!  As you may have guessed, the cowry had not vacated the shell, which now possessed  the delightful fragrance of day old seafood.  I removed my prize, and washed out my suit.  Having done all that, it was an easy decision to take the shell to the pier for a quick photo op before returning it to the gentle clutches of Kanaloa (the Polynesian God of the Sea.)  Just last year we found a perfect Textile Cone at Kawaihae, the harbor in North Kohala, that remained malodorous through many bleach treatments, eventually to be discarded.  So  pitching the cowry was a no brainer.

Reticulated Cowry, Kailua Pier

   At this point I must humor my editor and talk about the Canon D10 that produces such delightful underwater pictures.  Although I tend to use it like a one trick pony, it has lots of options.  The underwater mode adds a certain amount of red to the images and compensates amazingly well for the red that is removed by the water.  When not shooting through water, it is necessary to change the setting unless you want the your pictures to look extra red.  After taking a few red-enhanced shots, I was smart enough to examine my handiwork and take a few more shots on the beach mode (the icon: beaming sun over beach umbrella) gave the cowry a toss and headed for home where honey and I watched the Ducks pound Wisconsin to a pulp.  Actually, it was a close game but the brave boys in the relective space helmets carried the day.
An important aspect involving these different settings, is that you must remember to reverse them when you are done.  Yesterday, it being now two days removed from the Maddening New Years Horde, we headed to Ho'okena.  The water was beautiful and we saw Lei Triggerfish displaying.  There are no photos of this magnificent display, however, because pictures taken underwater on the beach mode have a ghastly white film, like shooting through diluted milk.  We tracked down a single coral head housing both Potter's and Flame Angelfish, so the day was far from a total loss.  But I need to remember to reset the camera to the cute icon with the Moorish Idol blowing bubbles.
  
Look for the baby Citron and watch out for the paddling angel on her surf board,
jeff