The K Bay Nursery and Other Delights.

   Yesterday I went down to Kahalu'u for an afternoon swim.  The water is warming up and, as you will see,  there were areas of pretty good clarity out in the bay.

Blackside Hawkfish  P. forsteri  juvenile  Kahalu'u, April 2016

   The first fish I encountered was a juvenile freckle  face hawk fish.  This is a good time of year for this handsome little fish.  This is one of my favorite fish and it seems that I can't swim by one without stopping to take its picture.   Usually this fish will not permit a close approach, but this guy permitted me to dive down and hold on at close range at least twice before swimming into his coral head.  I got five pictures, including a couple with the close up lens.  And look at the results.  Not only is the fish in precise focus, but he. is sitting on a healthy chunk of coral!  How lucky is that?

    In large part, we are lucky that there was a healthy chunk of coral left in K Bay for this little guy to perch upon.  Between hot temperatures causing bleaching and death and the full contact snorkelers who descend regularly in this marine treasure, the coral has taken quite  a beating. 

    I have taken countless pictures of this tiny fish.  to the best of my recollection, these are the first to be truly in focus.  Which may say more about me than anything else.








    Shortly after capturing the P. forsteri,  I happened upon a group of hermits sheltering in the coral, which as you can see, is far from the healthy chunk our little hawkfish found.  The fellow on top of the group was

wearing a large shell encrusted with orange coraline algae.  I got his picture and that of one of his mates a bit deeper in the hole.  I plucked the guy in the big orange shell off his rock, hoping for a better look.  You can see from the pictures that this was an instance of a small crab carrying a big shell.  I believe he had the Teddy Roosevelt Syndrome.  Stubborn as the old rough rider, he would not come out for a closer examination in my hand.  I put him back near where he started and swam away hoping that he would charge back up San Juan Hill as soon as he was left to his own crabby devices.

   There are two species of hermit that have that constellation of stars on their cheliped, the Guam hermit crab, an introduced species, is the more common.  It has yellow legs and the eye stalks are bicolored, black at the base and white distally. The camera clearly shows that this colony of hermit crabs have white eye stalks.  And the legs are striped green and a dirty white.  These were Ca. latens, the hidden hermit crab.  How do like the turquoise and orange stripes on the mouth parts?

 







     Out by Surfer's Rock things really got good.  Take a look at the juvenile four spot butterflyfish that posed for a couple pictures.  Isn't he cute?

Four Spot Butterflyfish,  juvenile,  Kahaluu  April 2016

 














 








 




     As I was photographing the baby four spot, I noticed an iridescent cardinalfish moving back and forth in the crevice below.  While I was trying to decide whether to try to get his picture, something yellow caught my eye swimming down at the base of the coral head.  a substantial amount of patience revealed it to be a baby Kole.  He was extremely active, darting around the coral head, mostly staying in crevices.

Iridescent Cardinalfish  Kahalu'u April 2016

    While I was trying to get his picture the cardinalfish moved into view and I caught him in crisp focus.  It was turning into a lucky day.

 












    Finally the baby kole gave me a couple quick opportunities.  I really like the picture taken from behind.  What an ornate pattern he displays on his after flank!

Kole, Ch. strigosus   Pretty Baby, K Bay  April 2016

      There was a red labrid wrasse lurking around and I got his picture, but he is deemed just too ordinary to be included today.

     As I swam towards Rescue Beach, I encountered a huge school of orange spine unicorn tang.  One individual had his aggressive colors illuminated, bright yellow forehead and  and pectoral fin. I got his picture and then took a movie of him chasing his mates.  What a bully.  It is my aspiration to get a movie on the evening news, so I'm going to have to practice.

    Finally I came upon a school of black durgons, many of them displaying the excited breeding color, a pink lyre on the tail edged in black.  This fish, which is ordinarily a matte black with electric blue at the base of its fins, can throw up some pretty interesting colors when the mood strikes.  Electric blue lines on the forehead and an orange patch on the cheek are not terribly uncommon.   By comparison , the rosy lyre on the tail is pretty darn uncommon.  Here

Black Durgons Exhibiting Rosy Lyre on the Tail

we had more than half a dozen showing off this sexy pattern.  I think they were having an orgy.  (Better not tell Ted Cruz.)  In this picture we not only see the tail pattern, but the durgon is hosting a little cleaner wrasse.

    On the way in, I got a pretty good picture of a Hazlett's hermit crab, but you have seen him before.  Not only that, but as the Prince Bishop of Salzburg (who is a big fan of the Snorkeling Blog) said on his last Hawaiian vacation , "There are only so many fish that the eye can see.  Don't you agree court composer?"  To forestall Salieri's wrath, we will not force any more pictures upon the Prince Bishop's eyes.  Or yours. I hope you enjoyed the show.

jeff

Don't go snorkeling with this guy.  He's a pain in the ass!