A Finescale Pair

      About ten days ago, at the Mahalo Banquet for Ironman volunteers, I made two new friends.  In fact, they were both friends and countrymen, they being Finnish, as was my mother.  Juha and Emmi are affiliated

Hyvää päivää Ho'okena

with the University of Nations.  In the spirit of the great Finnish diaspora, they agreed to accompany us snorkeling.  It was a bit hard to put things together, but finally on Sunday we picked them up and headed to Ho'okena.

     There were no dolphins, so we waited until 9:30 and then swam and swam.  We swam for over an hour.  The two young Finnns were good swimmers and admired the usual suspects, such as deigned to make an appearance.  Ashore, we had a nice early lunch of chicken salad sandwiches and Finnish Chocolate Cake, while Emmi and Juha told us a bit about Finland.  For what it is worth, Finland is remarkably rural with pine forests and bears.  To Finnish off the day, we took them to the Painted Church in Honaunau and St Peter's down by Kahalu'u.

Finescale Triggerfish, Kailua Kona Pier October 2013

    Although we enjoyed our new young friends immensely,  Sandra and I were disappointed that Ho'okena had shown so poorly.  This despite our pushing as hard as we could to find something interesting.  Sometimes it just isn't your day.   You can't force the fish.

     Happily, today I proved the corollary:  no matter where you go swimming, there is always a chance to see something special.  I had an hour to snorkel while Sandra visited her friendly dentist.  A ship was in down at the pier, so I had the chance to take a portrait of an older couple (with their camera) as they wandered into the village.  Tervetuloa to Kona! 

     My reward was found in the shallows not fifty feet from shore:  A pair of Finescale Triggerfish. This large gray triggerfish is a difficult species here on the Ironman course (and elsewhere in Kona.)  I see one only a   

Finescale Triggerfish, Balistes polylepis, Kailua Kona 2013

few times a year.  Usually, he is cruising fifteen feet deep.  The moment I turn in his direction, he takes off kovalla kiireellä into the gloom.   The closest I have been to one of these gray ghosts has been about thirty feet.  Suddenly, two of them were right below me.  I watched them at close range for about five minutes.  Here are two of my best pictures.

    In the last month, I have seen a single individual twice out in front of Hulihee's Palace.   In both instances the fish was deep and he sped away when I attempted to close.  Is it possible that he was scouting our shallows as a place to nest?  Rectangular Triggerfish lay eggs that hatch in one day.  That is why when you have a female humu humu chase you from her nest, she is gone the next day.  This year we have had a bumper crop of baby Rectangular Triggerfish in the shallows by the pier and at Kahalu'u.  It behooves us to look for tiny gray ghosts a few days after Halloween.  Spooky.

Hei hei,
jeff