The Proud Fish with the Golden Nose

A Peaceful Day at the Kona Makai Inlet

    On Thursday, exercise day at the Alii Villas Spa and Beach Club, the Redoubtable SKG and I found ourselves crossing the little bridge by said condos and I was struck by the pacificity of the eponymous ocean.  Luckily, I had my snorkel stuff in the car and immediately stated my intention to take advantage of the mild conditions.  So while sweetie trundled down to the ladies at the pool,  I made my way next door and down to the lava rock entry at Kona Makai.

    Indeed, the conditions were quite mild, which was a surprise, because Guy Hagi, the surfing weatherman on Channel 7 had been predicting great conditions on the north shore (for surfing).  I'd enjoyed a similar day ten days earlier.  So enthusiastic was I to enter the waterr that I forgot my fins in the car.  And I broke my first rule...don't go into the ocean

Big Eye Emperor, the Mu, Kona Makai, March 2011

without your fins.  It was so mild that day and I had made it all the way to the entry without my fins, so,clearly feeling a little fey, I slid into the fish pond,  paddled around and at the end of my half hour barefootin', old Neptune proved to be a good sport and spit me out. 

    This day I had my fins.  Mostly it was usual suspects,but early on I saw a couple handsome Achilles tang and a pair of Mu.  The reef at Kona Makai remains a good place to see the Mu, whose Hawaiian name refers to the tribal executioner.   

    Towards the end of my swim, as I was returning from the shallow reef to the deep water, I saw a fish with a gleaming golden forehead.  It was as if he had a

Red Labrid Wrasse, Kahalu'u, Jan. 2013

narrow bar of that precious metal running the length of his nose.  One almost epected to see a Porsche symbol in the center of that gleaming medallion. I had seen that fish before (only a couple times) and had a good idea that it was  one of the two native snappers.  Seeing me, he turned and swam away...I did not get any picture worth mentioning.   Years ago, in a similar situation, I would draw a picture and send it to Jack Randall.  He would usually reply with an invitation to purchase his latest book.  A photo tends to get more attention, but not this time.

     We were lucky when we got home to find a picture in John Hoover's Ultimate Guide of the Forktail Snapper, also called the Smalltooth Jobfish.  John's picture gives a hint of the golden snout that this otherwise (and most often) drab fish occasionally boasts.   There is no suitable picture on the internet of this proud fish with the golden nose for me to, ahem, borrow.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  And maybe someday, when you are peering out into the deep, you will find yourself going nose to nose with a shiny band of gold and you'll think...jobfish.  In the meantime, I am leaving you with a pretty picture of the Red Labrid I nabbed in K Bay a few days ago.

see you on the beach,
jeff

Continental Airlines, The Proud Bird With the Golden Tail

Author's note:   The title of this blog was adapted from the motto of Continental Airlines.  The Proud Bird With the Golden Tail ceased operation on March 2, 2012.   While factors such as corporate profits hastened the extinction of the PBWtGT, other nefarious forces are at work on the reefs of these very Sandwich Islands.  That the Proud fish With the Golden Nose may continue to stalk our waters, let us reaffirm our commitment to pure water, clean air, Al Gore and a hasty demise of the aquarium collectors.

jwh