The Rains come and So Do the Dolphins

    Up until a week ago, we were having some really good luck finding fish at Kahalu'u.   The best was the morning when we saw the  Leaf scorpionfish, the octopus and the cushion sea star all in about fifteen

Turn the army around!  We're going snorkeling at the pier!

 minutes.  Suffice it to say, one is not going to do that well routinely.  Suddenly, both at K Bay and down at the pier, fish watching became more mundane.

    Late last week I went to Kahalu'u.  I was surprised to find the parking lot virtually empty.  The lifeguard informed me that the park was closed for cleaning.  It wasn't entirely clear how snorkelers were going to impact the guys picking up palm fronds.  Or for that matter, why was the lifeguard there if no one was being allowed in the water?

   Regardless, like Napoleon, I turned the army around and headed down to the pier in search of the Prussian army.  I hadn't been out on the Paul Allen side recently, so I decided to give it a try.  The tide was high and the water cloudy.  On the way out, there was little of interest, unless one is fascinated by dead coral.  Finally, just as I was ready to make my final approach past the heiau, did I see anything of merit.  Right outside the Inner Harbour I saw a Whitley's

trunkfish and a sidespot goatfish. The goatfish was a little deeper and a little spookier than Mr. Whitley, but we got them both recorded for posterity.

      On the inside I caught a quick glimpse of a magnificent adult Surge Wrasse.  The coloration of this fish is similar to the Christmas Wrasse.  When you look in the book, you wonder how difficult it will be to tell them apart. John Hoover gives us a good tip for separating out the juveniles.  In the case of adults like this one, size alone tells the tale.  This behemoth was half again as big as any Christmas wrasse, about the size of a male star eye parrotfish.  Woof.  Both Christmas and surge wrasse are fast moving.  In this murky water I was lucky to observe him for a couple seconds, much less attempt a picture.

   The following day I took Sandra down to Kahalu'u.  They were still cleaning, but the park was open.  On this day the University of Nations was hosting the handicapped and the facility was overflowing.  We got in a

Male Coral Blenny Kailua pier 2016

quick swim and barely escaped a dust storm courtesy of the man with the five horsepower leaf blower.

    Two days ago I thought we ought to go down to Ho'okena.  I have been working on a pair of  paper mache blackfin chromis and I thought the clear water of that bay would be just the place to observe them before I put on the finishing touches.  We made the drive south and meandered down the steep winding road.  At the bottom we met a man with a sprayer who said the park was closed for mosquito eradication.

   Here on the leeward side of the Big Island, we had been in the midst of a drought.  However,  about a week ago the heavens let loose and we had a couple good rains.  In the spirit of protecting us from another dengue fever epidemic, Ho'okena was getting sprayed with insecticide.  The little community of

Paper Mache Fish Coming Soon to the Kailua Kona Library

Ho'okena and the eponymous park were one of the epidemic hot spots until a few months ago.  So I guess the spraying is a good thing. Sadly, while it may kill a few mosquitoes, it is sure to be bad for desirable insects like honey bees.  It seemed odd that there was no sign up on the main road to alert us to the park closure.  As we drove back up, we met several cars on the the way down to disappointment.

   Once again, we asked ourselves, "What would Napoleon do?"  In this case the obvious answer was,  "Aller à la Ville de Sécurité."    We took the good road down to the Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau and were lucky to find a parking spot opposite the rocky beach.  As we unloaded, we were pleased to see that the dolphins were in.  One can never have too many dolphin

Don't mess with Napoleon's crème glacée

swims, so we changed quickly and got into the soup.  It was a very calm day (which was why we had headed to Ho'okena to begin with) so the entry and the swim out to the dolphin area all went easily.

     We watched the dolphins swim around us for about 15 minutes.  There were more than ever. Several times there were large groups surfacing on both sides of us and Sandra speculated that there might have been two pods.  One of the groups boasted a baby, about the size of a large silver salmon, who jumped repeatedly into the air.  My photographic efforts caught his splash, but no baby dolphin.

    Eventually it was time to abandon the spinners and go look for a fish.  Over in the shallows we found a large school of yellow tang and whitebar surgeons, presumably grazing on algae.  In their midst was a large trumpetfish whose yellow coloration matched the tangs perfectly.  This is one of Sandra's favorite

Trumpetfish Hiding Among Yellow Tang

associations; the trumpetfish is a predator of small fish and uses the yellow tang as a stalking horse.  Beyond that, we saw nothing unusual. We couldn't even find a school of blackfin chromis, the search for which had, in large part, spawned the morning's trip. 

    On the way in, we passed the dolphin watchers.  Sandra kindly let me stay out for a bit, while she headed to the beach. 

    Out in the dolphin area I experienced a couple close passes and nabbed the picture you see here.  As are many good pictures, this one was a bit of an accident.  The camera had been left on the close up setting.  Luckily the water was clear and things conspired to create this wonderful closeup of two dolphins.

   During a lull in the dolphin action, I noticed that a family near me were exclaiming to each other in a foreign tongue.  This was my opportunity to channel our sometimes ambassador in chief, Hilary Clinton.  Luckily for everyone involved, the water made the implementation of a private email server totally out of the question.  It turns out the family was from Quebec City, and to this I attribute my inability to identify their patois as

French.  I wished them, "Bienvenue."  to which they replied , "Merci."  International relations conducted happily, I headed back to the Two Step entry where sweetie was waiting to haul my water logged carcas onto the pahoehoe.

   We had a delightful lunch and engaged our fellow fish watchers in friendly repartee. As we made it to our car, we were approached by a nice young lady with a foreign accent.  Wearing a sun dress and a floppy pink hat,  plump pink cheeks rosy with health, she was the very picture of a day at the beach.  Renoir would have been in seventh heaven. She wanted to make sure that parking against the stone wall was permitted.  Luckily, she spoke English flawlessly and we were able to reassure her that she had found a perfectly legal parking spot.  As she guided her husband in the car, we discovered that she was from Munich.  I was able to produce, "Ich bin einmal nach München gegehen."   This may not be perfect German, but she seemed delighted.  And then she said the nicest thing.  "The people in America are so kind and friendly."   

   And that goes double for Hawaii!

   jeff