A Night Snorkel at the Pier

Al oooo ha!

    One of my long time ambitions has been to go night snorkeling at the pier.  Last night that ambition was realized when Bob Hillis and I went for a swim off the beach in front of the King Kamehameha Hotel.  We arrived around 7 PM, just as the floor show of the hotel luau was heating up.  Between the lights from the hotel, the pier and the luau, the beach was well illuminated.  On the surrealistic side, there was a group of a dozen spectators standing on the pier, overlooking the bay, seemingly enjoying the show without actually being able to see it.  I can only imagine that they took some delight in watching us turn on our lights and swim out towards the heiau.  I'll take a waterproof flashlight over one of those fiery torches any day.

    Before we go further, I must confess that none of the pictures here (except the last from three years ago) are my own.  Although I attempted to take some pictures, the sea was bumpy and there was some back and forth surge.  I had the flashlight in one hand, of course, and when I put the camera in the other I was pretty much out of control.  It was lucky I didn't kill somebody...like me!  I have tried to find pictures representational of what we encountered.  And lastly,  I do not willingly go to luaus.

Regal Slipper Lobster, One Curious Crustacean

    We entered within an hour of darkness and the fish we saw immediately were mostly diurnal fish settling in, a ot of Convict Tang and Moorish Idols.  I noticed a couple Ambon Tobies just sitting on rocks.  Puffers are apparently safe at night and do not need to hide in a crevice.

    Out by the heiau it was darker and we started to see Iridescent and Bandfin Cardinalfish.  These were the only cardinalfish we would identify this evening.  Really, they are the only ones that are likely and big enough to be easily seen.   As we went further out and it became more definitely night, the cardinalfish became more numerous.  

We also started seeing both Regal and Sculptured Slipper Lobsters.  The regal was a new species for me and extremely beautiful.  It looked so different from the way it is pictured in Hawaii's Sea Creatures that at first I did not recognize it.  The thorax on the individuals I saw was gray as opposed to the brilliant orange and blue elsewhere on the body. The antennae on slipper lobsters are two rounded projections, looking a bit like a pair of shovels projecting from the head.  In the case of the regal, these are a grayish purple lined with optical orange.  Nice!

      In the bay we saw numerous Palolo Worms, or more precisely segments of the worm which are set free

Bandfin Cardinalfish

 from the body to go forth and multiply.  In our lights they were white, five inches in length with a bit of a fine wave for the last cm at one end...presumably the reproductive part, or perhaps having to do with locomotion.  These worm fragments are edible, but we did not partake.  

    Out in the bay our location was continuously confirmed by the lights on the pier and the many bright lights flashing from the luau.  The number of cardinal fish increased as the night wore on, hunting quietly in mid-water.  There were a large number of small red fish, possibly a species of squirrelfish that I am unable to identify.

    Another interesting spot by Bob was a bright red crab, possibly the Red Swimming Crab, hanging out in some coral.  He also saw a 7/11 crab that I could not find.

Jeweled Anemone Crab

     On the way in we saw a large Jeweled Anemone Crab.  The last time I saw such a large hermit crab was in Fiji about 14 years ago.  This reddish brown beauty has big furry legs and claws.  He crawled under a chunk of rip rap, but we could still dive down for another look.   I had never before seen a crab of this magnitude in Hawaii.

     Just a bit further on, still in the rip rap, we spotted a Tiger Snake Eel peering out from the rocks.  Flesh brown with large dark brown spots of different sizes, he might better be called a Clown Snake Eel.  I guess the naming committee didn't think there was anything very funny about snake eels.  We were able to dive down and look this big boy right in the eye!  Surprisingly, this was not a life fish for me.  Three years ago on a cloudy, bouncy afternoon, we saw one swimming free only thirty feet seaward of this very spot.  I had the presence of mind to snap off a poor photo with the old camera.  While it won't make the Louvre, it was good enough for John Hoover to make the identification.   

Tiger Snake Moray, Kailua Kona Pier, Jan 2011

     By the time we made it to shore, I was freezing.  The luau was breaking up and the tourists were making their way back to the hotel.  Our audience on the pier had wandered off, as well.  Time to go home for a warm shower, a hot brownie.

jeff