The Octopus Lovers of Paul Allen's Reef

     We have had some good surfing conditions this week, but today the ocean calmed down.  Snorkeling would have to wait, though, as the day up here at Casa Ono began at 5AM with soccer.

Viva la France.  Look for Mbappe to stick it to England.

   The fish were still asleep, but the soccer players of Brasil and Croatia were facing off half a world away in the desert emirate of Qatar.  Croatia won   Croatia is a hard working and talented team and I'm determined to get a red checked tablecloth in which to drape myself before they face off with Argentina.   The boys from Zagreb have garnered a portion of my support, along with France, which boasts the 21 year old phenom Kylian Mbappe. Looking like a young Tracy Jordan, Mbappe has scored more world cup goals than the legendary Pele at the same age. I'm betting on Kylian and his mates to send England home tomorrow morning.  I might need to break out my beret for that one. 

    Argentina beat the Netherlands in an uninspiring contest and then it was time to hit the beach.  Sandra dropped me off at the pier a bit before noon and I was soon entering the chilly waters of the Inner Harbour Although it is right in front of the King Kamehameha / Marriott Hotel, this is a very public beach and as I adjusted to the cold water a Polynesian lady was coaxing her three year old daughter to put her face in the water. 

Best Cephalopod ever,  Club Squid, Amed, Bali 1998

    Soon enough, my face was in the water and I was heading out over the rocks by the great king's heiau.  The water was fairly clear and there was a fine variety of fish. 

    The mission of this swim was to find a Christmas Wrasse in anticipation of the upcoming holiday.  This area among the big rip rap, with the ocean surging in and out, is a great place to find the Christmas and Surge Wrasses.  At that moment they were not in attendance.

     Out in the ocean it wasn't long before I spotted an octopus.  And a quick instant later I realized there were a pair of octopi. While this may not seem all that remarkable, this was my first pair of octopi.  As a pair they were magnificent.  The smaller was on top of the coral head.  He stood up straight and looked me over.  The larger was hiding under the lip of the coral.  She was very light and big.  Possibly the biggest octopus I've seen in Hawaii.  

     This was not the first pair of cephalopods I've seen.  The first was in Bali, and not in a special place, right off shore at the resort we were staying.   No bay, just a few ways for fishing boats separated by large rocks. Just look at the bio luminescence this pair threw up.  Utterly amazing. 

   I  backed off to get a better angle for photography.  When I turned back, I was unable to find the octopus. After a few minutes of searching I headed out to the reef.  

The delightful endemic, Whitley's Trunkfish  12/22

   Out past Paul Allen's lagoon I swam through the lava shallows, hoping for Christmas  Wrasse,a Five Stripe or some other shallow surging water fish.  the conditions were sufficiently mild that even in my recuperative state I was able to swim over the shallow reef.  Twenty years ago I would have been swimming over a forest of cauliflower coral.  Now the coral has died and disappeared;  the swim over bare lava rock is much less perilous to the old epidermis. 

    Anyway, nobody was home so I swam a little further away to the natural trench that Paul's minions once used as their approach to the estate.   In the trench, about ten feet down, I spotted a Whitley's Trunkfish.  This cute little endemic always brings a smile.  Way back in the  day, before computers were invented, before I knew enough to swim on the Paul Allen side, my boys, age five and seven, found Whitley's in the Inner Harbour, putting this fish on their respective life lists before showing it to me.  A fish watchin' daddy's proudest moment.  

Romeo and Juliette as seen from the surface

    I dove down into the trench, garnering the nice photo you see here.  My first real dives on my recuperating knee.

    Exhausting this area, I headed in to make my rendezvous with Sandra.  On the way in I kept an eye out for the molluscan lovers.  I didn't see them, but I did get a quick look at a Christmas Wrasse.  (Mission accomplished.)  As I reached the rip rap, I pulled my watch out of my pocket to discover that I had ten more minutes to swim.  

     "Wait a minute!" you exclaim, "Your watch in your pocket?"   Well here's the deal.  The plastic bands on waterproof watches, when exposed to regular salt water immersion, last less than two years and those bands are almost impossible to replace.  The last one gave up the ghost during the summer and is now in a drawer back in Vancouver.  I've been looking for a replacement with a metal band and as yet have not found something I like.  So I'm using one of the legion of watches that tick away in my top dresser drawer; it resides conveniently in the pocket of my swim suit. This was only the third outing employing the pocket watch technique, but its working so far.

Day Octopus with bridging arms.  Kailua Pier 12/22

    With my ten minutes of injury time, I took another swoop at the octopuses.  I'd been over this area several times and this time I spotted the dead coral and rock where the lovers were last seen hiding.  And there they were, deceptively camouflaged as befits their ilk.  

   I took a few photos from above and then dove down six or seven feet,  holding onto a chunk of dead coral.  I did this a few times capturing the pictures you see here.   The larger of the pair was out in the open, eyes up with a couple legs draped bridge-like over her body,  Three times I was able to hold on about two feet away from the octopus and she held her ground.  To say that this was unusual is an extreme understatement.  Any octopus who doesn't want to end up as dinner knows when to head for cover.  Perhaps she was protecting a brood.  Probably not.  Her partner, who you see behind her, was hunkered down, wearing black with white spots.  He was much more concealed, but he, too, did not swim away.  

Juliette in front, Romeo in black and white, behind.

   On the way in, while swimming through the large rip rap, I got a very close and quick look at a big gorgeous Christmas Wrasse.  

   As I stood in the shallows I found myself next to an Indian couple.  Being a gregarious soul, I asked them where they were from and the lady said,"India!"  I asked where in India and they told me Mumbai. I congratulated them on living in one of the world's great cities and they allowed that Kona was nice too.  The gentleman noted that Kailua is a lot like Goa.  

   I've never been to Mumbai ,never been to Goa.  But I have watched Outsourced, a charming romantic comedy.  The girl in this flick characterizes her liaison with the young Seattle businessman as her "Holiday in Goa."  According to the Urban Dictionary this may be a term actually used by Indian women who are approaching an arranged marriage.  And that's all I know about Goa.

    As I walked ashore I passed a two year old girl in a sun hat.  she looked up at me, I smiled and she smiled back.  It was that kind of day.

   While engaged in my apres-snorkel ablution I ran into three fourths of another Indian family.  In this instance it was a pretty young mother, babe in arms, attempting to brow beat her four year old daughter into the shower.  Kids of every race race and religion hate that shower.  

   On my way to collect my stuff I encountered the whole family.  I asked if they were from India and the husband, who had cleverly avoided the shower situation allowed that they were indeed from India but were now living in Seattle... and that it had been snowing on the way to the airport.  We agreed that in December Kona is better than the Jet City.

   As I rounded up my stuff the first Indian guy was turning in their snorkels at the beach boy shack.  I reminded him to get fins the next day and swim out in the bay.  At that moment I caught a glimpse of his wife on the beach and we exchanged smiles and a wave.  That was my Holiday in Goa for this day.

jeff

Go Croatia!