Eels

It's' really fun to see eels; the first few times I saw one, only its head would be poking out of the reef, with its jaw open and ready. The more I snorkeled, the more frequently I saw them swimming from one hole to another. My sister and I saw a snowflake eel in one of the tidal pools at Shark's Cove in 2004.

Marilyn took the photo

Mike Fausnaugh got a great picture of a similar eel at Black Point, at the January FIN event. It's amazing that he spotted it against the rocky bottom.

                            I'm not sure what kind this is on the right; I took it with a flash at a night snorkel in Hanauma Bay

a white-mouth off Ke'e Beach, Kaua'i

A reef on Molokai and a FIN (Fish Identification Network) event

This is a catch-all post, not all about Oahu, for with a friend from DC I went to a neighbor island early in the year. I love the beaches on Molokai, which is the only Hawaiian island with a barrier reef, but I've never surfed in more than 3 feet of water in my 3 attempts there. This time there was a strong current at the beach at the 20-mile marker on the south shore (Murphy's Beach), so in under a minute I was moved down to the next beach. Part of my weakness was exhaustion from hanging on to the bench in a small motorboat riding waves of up to 25 feet to the north side of Molokai to see the sea cliffs earlier that day ("Lord, thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small"). My friend Jack got a good photo of an Itty Bitty Yellow Tang (isn't that what you call it?) and in another photo you can see new young coral sprouting branches. I was really glad to see that because so much of the coral along Oahu's south shore is dead or dying from predation or disease.

Michael Fausnaugh took a photo of a tilapia at the last FIN* event of 2011, at Queen's Surf on Dec. 29. 

Many people who have aquaponic setups have tilapia swimming around to produce fertilizer for the plants

and for eating when they reproduce. They are freshwater fish but gradually become used to salinity 

and are regularly found in near-shore waters. 

*FIN is the Fish Identification Network (FIN), which Sasha Medien of reef.org describes as offering the "opportunity to join friends and fellow fish lovers in exploring the coral reefs of Hawaii. Maui's original FIN founders, Mike and Terri Fausnaugh, have since started FIN on Oahu. There are monthly, sometimes weekly, dives at various beaches. At every event, volunteers set up a REEF station with survey materials and identification reference guides in an attempt to lure in new afishionados!" For an interview with a REEF and FIN member, click here.

Hope for Hawai'i's coral reefs

The reefs circling the main Hawaiian islands are known for the abundance and variety of fish, not for their coral, which lack the color and variety of, say, the Caribbean. The coral is also in a sorry state, thanks to decades of overuse and overexploitation by a growing population, wastewater and industrial pollution, marine invasive species, disease, and bleaching. In most of my photos, the coral is dead, as in this background to a Christmas Wrasse (right): 

In this photo taken at Ke'e Beach on Kaua'i's north shore (below), you can see new coral growing on the left side, as a slow-moving durgon (in the triggerfish family) floats by. There are islands of new coral growth even inside the reef at Hanauma Bay that look much like this, and similar signs of recovery at Shark's Cove and Three Tables on O'ahu's north shore.

Marine researchers recently claimed that there is still hope for Hawai'i's coral reefs to revive, if all ocean users--snorkelers and divers, fishers, boaters, surfers, paddlers, and the companies that support them--take comprehensive steps. Researchers base evidence of area coral's ability to recover on history: after being heavily exploited after Polynesians settled about 1300, coral reefs flourished from 1400 to 1820 because Hawaiian communities used conservation strategies to protect the reef, and as they depended more and more on domesticated animals for food, reef fish--and the reefs--got a respite. Another example: the reefs of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands rebounded when the military abandoned the area after World War II (one of these islands is Midway, where a turning-point battle was fought with Japan). Everyone else left, too, and conservation initiatives and minimal  commercial activities (especially now that the area is a protected national marine monument) has led to "one of the most diverse and abundant coral reef ecosystems in the world," according to the  Honolulu Star-Advertiser ("Researchers float hope for Hawaii's coral reefs," Oct. 7, 2011--subscription required)  The lead author of the study says that this time it will take an ambitious "collaborative marine ecosystem stewardship" to restore the reef, involving no-take reserves and protection of various habitat types. 


Read the press release that announced the study's publication in an online marine science journal here.

Honu or Turtles

                                                            

Josie McCord contributed to this post.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about turtles, called honu in Hawaiian:
Where is the best place to see turtles?
The best place for seeing honu on O'ahu is Turtle Beach, located north of Haleiwa. Here is a page with pictures, a map, and description of Turtle Beach.

How big are the turtles at Turtle Beach?

They are about one yard long (three feet). The three pictures above were taken at Turtle Beach in July 2011, by Keren McCord.

Where else in the Hawaiian islands do you see turtles?

I saw my first turtle on the first day I ever snorkeled, at Hanauma Bay. Here are some photos from there. Marilyn Schweitzer took the top one.

 

At Ke'e Beach on the north shore of Kaua'i people usually see many honu. The next 3 pictures were taken by Sierra Club members on a service trip in 2005 and 2006. One shows what turtle poo looks like.

  

 

   

How we look underwater

Sylvie at 18 months

Sylvie at 6

Blowing bubbles

Josie 2011, age 9

Night Snorkeling

Snorkeling after dark is so much fun. Hanauma Bay is open until 10 p.m. on one Saturday a month in the winter months. Walking up or down the path after dark you see a dozen circles of light indicating the location of snorkelers exploring a nocturnal, underwater world. There are pictures here.

They may not be a different set of creatures compared to those you see in the daytime, but they look different at night. Sometimes all you see are eyes peering out from every crevice, catching the light and holding it. Other times brittle stars abound. Last time I was there, sea cucumbers with thorns poking out all over were everywhere. With my sister in 2004 I saw a crab anemone, a grotesque walking creature that mystified us until a park official explained that crabs attach anemones to the top of their shells as camouflage; when they change to a larger shell, they pop them off and stick them to the new shell. Here's a picture Marilyn took; what would you think if you saw this lumbering across the sea bottom?

But perhaps the best night snorkel was with Janet and her housemate, in November 2009. Emily found us an octopus to play with. It ate and ate, appearing to keep an eye on us but not disappearing into a hole. We finally got cold  and made a break for shore. Here are some photos of that memorable night:

banded urchin

mystery sea cucumber

We saw it walk, but I didn't get a picture of it.

Baby squid

In July 2006, I was snorkeling at Queen's Surf with Christy and Will. We were about to head in when we noticed a squid hovering out about 50 yards from shore. Soon we realized there were two smaller ones--babies? Will said the adult was keeping its eye on me as I took pictures of the small ones, perhaps being protective. Will might have taken one or both of these photos, as I handed the camera (a Canon PowerShot 610 with an underwater case) to him. It's hard to frame a shot in midday with the sun shining on the screen. I usually look through the viewfinder, but that's not easy either.

Looks like a baby having fun

The mother being protective?