What's Up at the Pier (A Big Bad Baracuda!)

   As the season wears on, and especially in times of big swell, we find ourselves going back to the Kailua pier.  From the standpoint of relaxation, it has Kahalu'u (home of the maddening crowd) beat hands down.  And when I think about what's missing on this season's list, it seems the pier is most likely to produce.  Specifically, we need a Finescale Triggerfish and Bluestripe Butterfly.  And a Red Stripe Beer.  Just kidding.
     So we haven't seen either of those worthies, but we've had some pleasant swims this last week or so and we've seen some good stuff.  Right near the pier I spotted this really handsome colony of orange sponge.  What a beautiful animal...and remarkably low on the phylogenetic ladder, basiscally organized single cells!
    I took Sandra to see it on the next day and happened upon  that Milletseed Butterflyfish.  I hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks and he's getting a little bigger, still in the same spot by the tender dock.  By the way, on days when things are churned up (and we have had a fair share of those of late)  the water within ten yards of the pier is decidedly more clear than anywhere else.

The Ever Tasty Polynesian Halfbeaks

    And we've seen other good things: a Saddleback Butterfly, a small octopus and Polynesian Halfbeaks have become almost regular.  They must be good eating, because each time I see the school it looks like at least one more guy has lost a chunk of flesh.  Must be running into the Shylock of the deep.
     Or perhaps the fellow that I encountered today! Today was President's Day, or the Monday we celebrated as President's Day.   In any event, I don't think that the fish are going to elect this guy president.  I'd say the Mu looks more presidential.  This fellow looks more like the guy that Don Corleone sends to make you pay up.

Look carefully and you'll see the Cleaner Wrasse

     Over on the Paul Allen's Reef side, I was enjoying a pleasant swim.  The surf was lower  and once out by the estate the water was pretty clear.  Out on PAR I have a spot, as my dear reader's know, where I check each time for the pair of Harry Potter's Angelfish.  This day, as I looked down on Hogwarts, I saw a Great Baracuda as long a Louisville Slugger and about three times as thick.  The guy was a beast.   He was very dark, blending into the background of dark coral.  It was immediately apparent that he was being cleaned, probably accounting for the change in color and his repose.

When the schnecken beckons, its time to get out of Dodge !

    I snapped a couple pictures and then, tucking away my shiny keys, I dove for a close up.  Naturally as I approached, he abandoned the cleaning station.  His color blanched and then firmed up, much lighter than before.    I think his change in coloration was saying, "Rest time is over, now let's have a snack."    Or as Albert said in the Birdcage, "When the schnecken beckons...."   I followed this brute around for a few minutes.  He was a powerful, prowling presence.
    I regard a barracuda attack as extremely unlikely...  a fiction perpetrated by authors like Carl Hiassen to sell paperbacks.  My son, James, who is like a marine mammal, takes the opposite point of view.  When he sees a bad boy like this, he wants to walk on water.   So where does the truth lie?
    There are only six recorded barracuda attacks in Hawaii.  The last was seven years ago on Oahu during a night dive and it was thought that the 'cuda ran into the diver at high speed inadvertently.  Intent be damned.  Although he survived he was plenty injured.

The Don's Enforcer.

    There were two daytime attacks on the kona side of the Big Island in the early 90s.  (Wait a minute!  That's where we are!)  Both were against women wearing shiny barrettes.  Neither was dangerously injured, but one needed surgery to remove teeth imbedded in her skull.  Bummer!    
    Now that you know the facts, you can make your own decision.  This particular fish defineitely knew it was me and not some mackerel, which probably made me safer.  However, taking off your barrette appears to be a pretty good idea before you approach the bad boy from the mob.  And for goodness sake, don't tell  Mr 'cuda that I compared him to Albert!
    That's the news from the Kailua pier.  Keep your shiny bling tucked away and look for the Mu to appear as the next conservative challenger in the run-up to the GOP convention.

Mu For President !

                                                               Kona Makai, April 2011
jeff