BIG ISLAND 2019


Hawaii Island 

                We both visited friends in Keahou (South Kona) in January and Sharon visited again in July while Gil was occupied with canoe club activities.

JANUARY
                The evening stroll to watch the sunset reminds us how rugged the ever-present lava is on the Big Island.



Jane & Howdy

Keahou Sunset

                We took a day to trip up to Volcano, en route stopping at Black Sand Beach, where we had visited some years ago the day after a tsunami.



               Volcano National Park was open but all trails still closed due to recent seismic events.  The lava had retreated beneath the land and we witnessed fissures left by earthquakes. The Big Island gets us just about as close to raw nature as we have ever been: the violence of creation and indifference to mere humans.

The rim road had been closed for some time but without the lava flowing we drove around once again.



 
Lehua (blossom of the 'Ohia) 
Life literally goes on, delicate relief to the scorched land
   
             The forest is always a wonder, even with limited access we enjoyed its vast scale and beauty.

Mamane

Koa in bloom

Tree fern

                A newly discovered fungus (actually two varieties of it) has begun to attack the ‘Ohia Lehua, the great beams of the forest.  It was found first on Hawaii Island, then Kauai, and now Maui.  

One variety kills more slowly than the other but both deliver Rapid Ohia Death (ROD).  There is great effort to keep it from spreading.

The Water
                We have always loved snorkeling the South Kona area, without rivers the water tends to be more clear than on Kauai.  However if the normal wind/wave pattern shifts, the turbulence makes less than ideal conditions.  We managed to get some good fishy sightings.

Gil - he got some nice close-ups.

Forceps butterfly fish

Houndfish, these are only about 12" but they can get to 40"

Zebra urchin

Gil has a particular fondness for the Ornate butterfly fish and of course, Yellow Tangs this big tell you that you are on the Big Island

Rick’s whaler, he patiently waits for us

I also got a couple cuties 

These puffers always surprise us at Kona, like seeing an old friend

This Lagoon Triggerfish (humu) was photo bombed by the larger Orangespine Unicorn fish in background

We had a short lived North Kona adventure as the swell was rougher than expected.  Rick called us in after a few minutes.  No danger, just not great visibility.



The swell sort of sneaked up on us

JULY
                Rick and Jane invited us again but Gil could not get away with so many canoe club events coming up.  I couldn’t resist!  Jane has many contacts in the ocean world and we went whale shark hunting the first day.  A good friend of hers has seen over 60 this year alone! We headed to the fish nets being raised from deep water for harvest.  Fascinating process.
No whale sharks but Rick did catch another ono. 

Rick &Jane

Nets raised from deep water column

Ono

From sea to table, ono also means delicious in Hawaiian

                Second day, Jane and I took a double kayak out of Keahou Bay and south along the coast.  We snorkeled back, Jane towing the kayak!

Towing, she got away while I was in a cave

Caught up!

                Going out we saw a large manta ray swimming below us, too deep to catch on camera, but the peace I feel watching them move through the water lingers still.  Jane knew there was a large fish ball in the bay and located that on the way back.

From the top looking down

Akule fish ball from the inside
Jane had her weight belt on and dove the 35 feet to get this photo 
There were literally thousands and they separated and came back together as she swam through them.

                Last day, we went out in the whaler again, this time south to Kealakekua Bay and Honaunau Refuge, the best snorkeling in all of the islands.  Yippee.  We pulled in just to see if there were spinner dolphins and hit the jackpot.

Kealakekua 


 Of the two pods, all were frolicking and spinning out of the water.  Two broke from one pod to play catch with this yellow leaf, lots of diving, jumping, cavorting – wonderful to behold.




               Spent on spinners, we snorkeled at the opposite end from the Captain Cook Monument (where all the tours go) and had it to ourselves!  Very exciting when these two critters came along, about my size.  What a day!




White tip reef sharks


                Farther down the coast we went in at Honaunau.  Howdy took a dip then we spent a half hour or so frolicking ourselves. 


Jane would dive down, slip through an opening and pop up somewhere else.  

Thanks Rick, Jane & Howdy. 
Love the opp to visit friends in the deep blue sea and above.

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