BIG ISLAND - LAVA - FOREST

VOLCANO:  FIRE and FOREST

SEPTEMBER 2012

Sunday 9/2

This was the third year we ventured up to Volcanoes National Park after Gil’s Kona canoe race.  Since there is great snorkeling in between the two locations, we just try to make it by dark.  We stayed in a cabin in Volcano Village from Sunday thru Wed, minutes from the park entrance. It is always chilly at night and we need to rinse the remains of the salt off before donning jeans, socks, boots and coats. Then its off to Jagger Museum on the rim of Kilauea caldera rim. 

Halema'uma'u at dusk   

(hall-eh-ma-oo-ma-oo)

            The entire Kilauea Caldera is closed to hiking and including driving around crater rim drive.  The crater within is bubbling and boiling is called Halema’uma’u.  Sulfur dioxide fumes are monitored and visitors warned to check levels daily, it was not a factor while we were there.  Glowing with reddish heat, we decide to come back later tomorrow night, dressed in even warmer.

Monday 9/3 Labor Day

We needed a rest and the rain shifted between light and heavy mist.  Between short excursions in the park it was nice &cozy in the cabin with our tree fern view.

From cabin porch - left to car, right to jacuzzi, all surfaces are shiny wet

We sort of put up with a very limited kitchen to have these windows, a very nourishing view

           The Koa and Ohia forest remind us of Koke'e on Kauai which we dearly love, but the tree ferns tell us this is the Big Island. 

Ohia Lehua - canopy of the forest


Skies alternate between blue and gray, sun and drizzle in a rain forest

 Koa trees and Tree Ferns

the other major ingredients of the Hawaiian forest

Valley ferns

Looking down at the tops of 25' tall tree ferns, I have to watch my step; its a long way down

We cruised the familiar visitor center and wonderful art gallery with many informative displays and of course souvenirs.  I usually try to show support by buying a book from their great selection.  This time it was Isabella Abbott’s La’au Hawaii, a book on ethnobotany that I have nearly worn out from the Princeville Library while doing my research.  I’m such an Abbott fan now, it was a satisfying purchase.  

I realize I am happy with endless amounts of blue water and green forest but I burn out on the fire, a little goes a long way.  All the displays are about lava and much of the art work is vivid red.  So, tomorrow, Tuesday, we head to the coast to snorkel at Kapoho tidepools.

(see post : Big Island Ocean/Mantas/Coral – midway down is the Puna tidepools story).

 Tuesday 9/3

  Quenched from our water fix, we returned to the cabin for dinner then bundled up, got our headlamps and went back to the overlook.  It was a clear night and the stars were brilliant.  The red glow was exciting again, in the very chilly air.

 Halema'uma'u after dark

According to a temperature chart in Jagger Museum, 
yellow is 2000 degrees,orange 1650, and bright red is 1300 degrees!

Wednesday 9/4  
Keauhou Bird Conservation Center

            We had an appointment at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center in Volcano.  The project is a joint effort between San Diego Zoo, Hawaii State Conservation, and Fish and Wildlife, with the heaviest burdon on SDZ.  Kamehameha School has a large tract of land and rents 150 acres to the group dirt cheap.  We visited last year but it took three months to set it up.  Since we are repeaters, it was easier this year even though the director had changed.  Rosanna Leighton would not let me blog her picture (shy) and I will have to go through some hoops to use any photographs in my book of the facility or of the birds they are trying to save from extinction. 

            ‘Alala (rhymes with tra-la-la) are called the Hawaiian Crow but the birds are actually small ravens.  Seeing these in person leaves no doubt they are ravens, especially since I recently photographed ravens in Utah.  In addition to being smaller, the feathers on these guys have a matte finish, not the shiny iridescent black of the mainlanders.  This variance is what makes/made them endemic to Hawaii where they are extinct in the wild.

While the goal a year ago was to do a gradual release once the captive population reached 100 (which it has), now they want to wait up to two more years before starting the release program.  They are also breeding several other little birds at the center and this year successfully released eleven Kauai Thrush or Puaiohi (poo-eye-oh-hee) back into Koke'e.  Yeah!  Thank you San Diego Zoo Global for your foresight and dedication to our natural world. 

Mahalo, Rosanna and gang.

My guess L to R:  'Alala, Maui Parrotbill, Puaiohi, and Palila

Out and about, on the opposite side and east of the large caldera, lies the Kilauea Iki crater and the nearby Thurston Lava tube.  Hiking can be done across this old crater floor and there are trails along its rim and down into and through the lava tube (which just feels like a very long cave in the forest). 

Iki (ee-kee) Crater 
Moody with off and on mist, the Halema'uma'u sulfur cloud is in background

          Close up of cracked floor with steam escaping.  I've never been tempted to the trail that crosses the barren landscape below when the forest and birds are up here on the rim.  I have done my share of trekking across lava elsewhere seeking out cultural sites and at tidepools.

The crater surface looks like the crust on fudge rather than fairly smooth lava

            For me the best part of this area is the forest and birdsong.  I can hear I’iwi (ee-ee-vee) and see Apapane (ah-pa pa-nay), both little red birds, also little flashes of the green Amakihi.  They are very hard to capture on film (or pixels).  Looking up from below, color turns out nearly black and white.

Apapane - a red forest honeycreeper

silhouetted among Ohia at dusk

On our last day we checked out and went to the Kipukapuaulu bird walk in the morning. Attempts have been made to restore native plants in here to draw the sadly endangered birds. 
 

Apapane drinking from Ohia blossom in daylight

without a tripod I couldn't focus any better than this, 30-40 feet over my head

                     Forest floor: native Hawaiian sword ferns and pala palai (pa-la pa-lye)

                                                         Ama’u (ah-ma-oo)  

a beautiful understory tree fern distinctive for its new leaves being red

               It turned out to be a great day for detail shots. The big trees serve as nursery or habitat for other plants and critters besides birds.

 Just for scale, here is 6'5" Gil with an old Koa

These little Koa sprouts give me hope for our world!

Gil also got into photographing elements often overlooked in the forest. 

Spider complex on one whole side of a tree

 Mystery Bark growth

Large fungus bowl on the side of a tree, 

It may look like a ceramic soap dish but is cold and soft to the touch

           We finally reached the end of the trail and left Volcano National Park and Pele's domain.  We removed layers of clothing as we descended toward Hilo, via the Kapoho tidepools for one last look at coral, often described as the rainforest of the ocean.

BIG ISLAND - OCEAN / MANTAS / CORAL

OCEAN – BIG ISLAND

SEPTEMBER 2012

KONA SIDE

            We flew in for the for Queen Lilio canoe race (see separate entry.)  I went directly north to do a little research for my book and then while Gil and the boys rigged the canoes, I went for a five hour boat snorkel trip – one daylight and one night time to be with Manta Rays.  Kona Diving Company is a really fun outfit with a nice boat out of Honokohou Harbor.  After a 35 minute ride we stopped at a cove near the airport – known as Manta Heaven.  As soon as we pulled in and anchored we saw a manta swim by.    

 Dive Boat - Kona Diving Company

 Katie  (Octopus head) - leader of scuba!

Manta Heaven - cove just north of the airport

Hualalai - older volcano than either Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa - 8300'

            The day dive was not so hot as it was pretty cloudy and late, 5:30pm but I did get to see a large porcupine fish.  I had trouble with my snorkel and was happy to get it resolved before the night adventure.  Back on board we had soup and wraps and silliness while the sun went down gifting us with a green flash on the horizon.  Minutes later, the full moon came up and as a blue moon it was pretty exciting.  Katie led the divers, David the snorkelers. 

Blue Moon 8/31/12

Fun to watch it come up over the old volcano (see above)

            Other boats drifted in, form a circle and started setting the shared stage for the mantas.  Flood lights are placed on the sea floor about 35 feet down so that they project up.  These lights draw plankton and as it thickens (like snow), the mantas come to feed.  There is no other feeding done and no touching; it is harmful to them to lose the gel-like protective coating on their skin.

Setting the stage for the mantas

The lights attract plankton (microscopic shrimp), the plankton attracts fish & manta rays

  The mantas are keenly aware of the divers who sit on the bottom and the snorkelers who float on top.  Each top group has a board or light ring with lights projecting down; the divers on the bottom have lights that shine upward.  We were the last group in and the last to leave, alone with 31 mantas up to 16 feet across.  At one point, David got excited and talked about a young male that was somersaulting like the adults because just the week before he was afraid of everyone – now he was cavorting with the rhythm of the others.  They warned us about getting excited but my heart rate slowed and I felt in sync with the creatures whose method was to come near the top (us) and roll their whole body so that we were belly to belly.  With the water column lit up for 35 feet, we could see layers of turning.  

Their slow and deliberate motion is hypnotic

Manta Magic

Manta freckles

They are all named and are listed in a national data base.  

White undersides with black freckles are as distinctive as fingerprints.  

I forget the lower one’s name but we noticed the shaka near the upper one's vents!   

             Next day, 9/1, was Gil's race (see separate post).  Once that was completed we were on vacation again.  

            On the 2nd we headed back to Honaunau Bay and snorkeled at Two-Step, right here where the guys’ race started the day before, gorgeous.  

Two Step - at Honaunau Bay           

            We hit a low tide and couldn’t cross some of the reef we had swam over last year.  Stunning sights, some fishes we don’t see on Kauai.  Typically the Kona waters are extremely clear since the young island doesn’t have streams bringing silt out of the old mountains, but since there is fresh water mixing with the salt water, I had lots of blur at the top in places.  Gil free-dives better than I do and he said about three feet down it was crystal clear.  

Yellow Tangs, a Goldring surgeonfish, a Whiteband surgeonfish,

three Orangeband surgeonfish, and a supermale Bullethead parrotfish, far right

Gil's initial phase Bullethead Parrotfish 

(see supermale phase above that has turned to blues/yellows/greens)

 Gil's Spotted Pufferfish - about 12" long

At home we have the Hawaiian Toby in this family that gets to 31/2 inches!

 Gil's Pinktail Durgon or Triggerfish  

He is dark brown with almost lingerie looking white fins trimmed in black ribbon 
& a delicate pink tail!

Related to the Black Durgon (with blue piping) I showed in Kauai - Ocean post recently 

I've only seen one of these at home 

Nearly three dozen Racoon Butterflyfish

I hit a big patch of fresh water mixing with the salt water, 

it is like looking through very wavy glass, even more-so in back 

Clear again, I got this rare Big Longnose Butterflyfish 

What a privilege to swim with the fishes at Kona
I had seen a White-tip Reef Shark here last year, not today

 

BIG ISLAND – PUNA SIDE

 

            We got out of the Bay and dumped a little fresh warm water over our heads and headed up to Volcano.  With four days there we took one out (Tues 9/4) to re-visit the tide pools at Kapoho in the Puna district.  Having snorkeled there during the March 2011 tsunami (while the water was wreaking havoc on the Kona side), we wanted to visit it again.  We both had problems with the disks in our camera masks so there were very few pics of our stunning experience.  They are all in our head.  The shallow tidepools serve as a nursery and nearly all the fish are in miniature.

Kapoho tidepools

Domino Damselfish or Hawaiian Dascyllus

The one on left is the size of a quarter and the little one here is like my thumnail

These are real charmers, the little one has been instructed to hide (there is an even smaller one in the coral) and the bigger one (also a juvenile) is chasing me away

Orangespine Unicornfish and a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
bottom right: a Blue-eye Damselfish

            This deeper tidepool also serves as a cleaning station. Several Racoon butterflyfish were waiting under a rock shelf for their turn.  During the cleaning and waiting, the fish seem to be in an altered state of suspended animation - like at the spa! 

Saddle Wrasse on left about 5", Gosline's Fangblenny on right, 2.5" max

            The saddle wrasse is easily the most common fish anywhere I snorkel. I really don't even notice them most of the time. The nasty little endemic Fangblenny (on right) is also called a scale-eating blenny but he takes chunks! 

            Ironically,  when I started identifying fish I had a hard time telling the difference between a juvenile Saddle Wrass and the Fangblenny because the size and coloration are really close.  Now I know the shape and wonder at how I could have been confused.  I think it took getting bit on the leg to drive it home!

       A few seconds later I saw a really pissed off Lavendar tang, fins flared, chasing this guy.  Very unlike the calm cleaning station!

We finally drug ourselves out of the water, away from the drama, and drove another mile up the road to the volcanically heated man-made pond called Ahalanui.  It was built as a sort of plunge in a park with rock walls and sand bottom but some geothermal phenomenon came along and it is now heated!  This is in the vicinity of the plant that harnesses volcanic steam for energy.  A living volcanic island is really exciting.  After our relaxing swim and picnic we headed back up to Volcano Village. (see entry Volcano Fire and Forest)

Ahalanui Beach Park

The plunge was cold water when built and underground eruptions in 1955 and 1960 accessed a geothermal heating system;
now the water temperature is usually in the low 90s.

Fresh sea water comes in the channel and vents out along the sides, 

otherwise it may be too hot!
Many of the visitors here were Europeans who are used to outdoor spas.

A really sweet spot, we enjoyed the shady picnic tables and shower

the graffiti here is nice too - the only Blue-lined butterflyfish I saw!

Kapoho Tidepools – again!

After another day of forest, visiting the conservation birds, and Volcano glow after dark on Wed, we headed for Hilo on Thursday 9/6.  Since we had had technical difficulties at the tidepools, we decided to go back again with fresh batteries and made sure our disks were fully engaged in our cameras.  Gil spends most of his time diving down and gets great shots. 

 Gil in the bottom of the largest tidepool, clicking his camera mask,  

this time with new batts and the disk

Gil's Ornate Butterflyfish - about like an 8" dinner plate

These guys usually travel in pairs  

We see them regularly on Kauai, they are so incredible, it is always a special experience

I was so thrilled here about the coral – just a fantasy land.  The film clip gives a hint, but not the true color palette.  This is the largest of the tidepools we swam in.

There are relatively few species of fish here, again the tidepools act as a nursery for little guys, and a cleaning station for small fish.  the outer reef has the bigger guys, we can sort of peek at them but no access without climbing over the lava barriers in between. The butterflyfish really stand out, especially when this shallow.

Threadfin butterflyfish - also about 8"

Time to say goodbye to the tidepools.  The sky wept for us, giving us both a rainbow and slippery lava to work our way back across.  

Aloha Kapoho - thank you for sharing the treasures you hold

           We did return to Ahalanui Park just to warm up in the thermal pool before the cold shower clean-up to fly home.

KONA CANOE RACE - 9/1/12

41ST ANNUAL QUEEN LILI'UOKALANI 

OUTRIGGER CANOE RACE

            The 18 mile women’s race was south from the pier at Kailua Bay to Honaunau Bay and started at 7:30 am.  The men had to get themselves to Honaunau Bay and retrieve the canoes as the women finished.  150 women’s canoes and 155 men’s canoes raced this year.

7:00 am, the ladies will start at 7:30, lots of excitement drifting up to our room

           Peaceful between the ladies leaving and men arriving, this temple reconstruction is in Kailua Bay, both the start and finish of the race.  King Kamehameha Hotel (Marriott now) is behind me.  the Hawaiians traditionally stained their canoes black and used yellow wood for the gunnell so this Kona Boys boat is accurate.

Kailua Bay

           

 We rented a van so all the kittens (or badgers?) would be in the same box!

L to R:  Ciletti, Donnelly, Laney, Landis, Thompson, O'hara

            Interesting that both ends of the race have reconstructions of sacred sites - this coast has a deep Hawaiian history.

 

Honaunau (ho-now-now) Bay

National Historic Park on other side

            There is a pretty good gap between the first and last of the women’s canoes to show up and each guys’ team waits for their boat, psyching up.

 Canoes come around the rocky point and cross the orange buoy line

Lots of coming and going as women arrive and men claim their boats

A little shade is much appreciated while waiting for your team to come in

            Well organized this year, there were many cases of water for everyone.  This race is known as the hot one, not much wind and for the men, it is almost noon when they take off.

Namolokama guys prepping, checking water delivery systems

Some are using Camel Backs and some are using Kole Gear

After ferrying the women to the party boat (yellow & blue on horizon),
the land waiting is over for the men's 60's team

Heading out to line up, they have another 25 minutes before their race begins.  They are stretched along the horizon.  

 Canoes are lined up on the horizon between water and sky

Namolokama paddles iron which means the same six guys do the whole race without changes.  There is another category that starts 10 minutes later with 9-man teams that have spare paddlers on an escort boat and they switch out as needed. 

Headin' in, 18 miles later

Namo 60s have just crossed the finish line
behind New Zealand by tenths of a second :(

                                Back where they started, the King Kam beach at Kailua Bay

Team After

L to R:  O'hara, Thompson, Cilleti, Donnelly, Landis, Laney

At this point they didn't know they came in 4th, no medal this year, although it looks like Thompson and Laney have guessed

Hard to swallow after Gold the last two years.