Diving the Kona Coast: April 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Dive Report for Saturday 04/24/10

The diving at Keone'ele Cove ("Two-Step", Honaunau) was pretty good today despite surge and occasional sets from a northwest swell. Visibility was about 50 to 60 feet on the reef with pockets of better clarity here and there. The south side of the cove had some fair-sized surf rolling in so I decided to head north for my first dive. Had some good photo opportunities for some butterflyfish like the Ornate above and the Pyramids below.

At the point where I was about to turn around and start my return leg of the dive, I caught sight of a creature seldom seen at this locale, a Hawksbill Sea Turtle.

This particular Hawksbill was a small female that was only around a foot and a half in length. She stayed very close to the bottom the entire time I observed her, grazing on algae every so often.

You can get an idea of her small size from the coral formations nearby. Hawksbills differ from Green Sea Turtles primarily in the shape of their heads. The front of a Green's face is very blunt and almost vertical, whereas a Hawksbill's is tapered like a bird's beak (or maybe a hawk's bill!).

Hawksbills are not truly rare in Hawai'i but occur much less frequently than Greens which seem to be present at almost every beach. On the southeastern side of the island is a Hawksbill nesting site at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.

I hung out with my reptilian acquaintance until my air supply encouraged me to be on my way. I snapped this photo of a Banded Sea Urchin on my way back to the Two-Step.

For my second dive I decided to take a chance on going south even though it looked kinda dicey. I was glad I did! Early in the dive I found this cute little baby Commerson's Frogfish clinging to the side of a coral head. Juveniles are almost always bright yellow like this, mimicking a type of local sponge. When they get older, their colors change to match their surroundings and they become quite difficult to see.

I took many photos of this fish but few turned out very well. Either I "blasted" it with the strobes and washed out the image or I lost the fish in shadows. I did get a good exposure of it in this photo with his mouth wide open in a "yawn".

This Spotted Eagle Ray was making the rounds to all the little sand patches using its nose to shovel up invertebrates to munch. While these rays are majestic to behold while swimming, they have a somewhat ugly face that looks like a squashed duck with snake-like eyes.

The last photos for this diving day were of this feisty little Whitemouth Moray. It was free-swimming when I first saw it, but quickly took up shelter under this overhang.

Until next week, gang! A hui hou!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Dive Report for Saturday 04/17/10

Aloha, everyone! I,ve been sidelined by a sinus infection for the past two weekends so I haven't had any dives to blog about. But, I'm all better now and had a wonderful pair of dives today at Honaunau.

For my first dive I surface swam to the south end of the cove and descended among the large stone formations there. One of the first sights I saw was this six-rayed Green Linckia sea star. While not common, sea stars with extra rays are not rare either.

Just a photo of a common Yellow Tang, but I'm happy with this because at least the bright yellow didn't reflect my flash so much as to wipe out the details on the fish.

I found this little Spotted Boxfish male out in the open but when I approached to take his photo he retreated back into the coral for safety. This is the only half-decent photo I got of him.

This pair of Raccoon Butterflyfish followed me for awhile as I made my way around the rock formations.

I haven't seen one of these Lantern Tobies in quite awhile. Some species seem to disappear for a time, only to come back in numbers later on. I used to see these in pairs but this one was solo.

This is the first Shortnose Wrasse that I've seen in some time. This one can be identified as a male by the bright red area on the front of the dorsal fin. Like all wrasse, it swims about in a rapid and somewhat erratic manner making it difficult (for me) to photograph.

This is Wire Coral (sometimes called Whip Coral) that can be found all over the south end of the cove. It grows out of the sides of the rock formations, usually where it is shaded by an overhang. There are certain shrimp and gobies that are specially adapted to live on this unusual coral.

The vermillion color of this Arc-Eye Hawkfish contrasted nicely with the pale green coral he was resting on.He certainly wasn't hiding!

I got one chance to snap this photo of a Potter's Angelfish before it disappeared into the coral.

I love the photo opportunities afforded by the cleaning stations. Here a Goldring Surgeonfish unfurls its fins for a thorough going-over by a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse.

This Whitemouth Moray made a willing photo subject towards the end of my dive.

Diving conditions were kind of a mixed bag today. There was a bit of surge in the early morning but visibility was better than it had been for months. The temp remained a chilly 74 degrees. On my surface interval, the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up to at least 12 knots as whitecaps were forming on the open water outside the cove.

On my second dive I decided to check in on some old friends. This male Longfin Anthias is still doing well, as is his little harem.

Likewise, the small school of Pyramid Butterflyfish has managed just fine in my absence.

It's always cool to see a Pacific Trumpetfish hanging vertically like this in the water column. They float like this waiting for a little fish to swim out of the coral and then the trumpetfish sucks it in!

To finish off this post, here's a photo of Yellowfin Goatfish who will probably gather in this cove forever. They are a constant presence around the ALOHA sandpatch every single day and are reliable enough to use as a navigational aid.

Although there were no spectacular sightings, these were two very pretty dives and I was very grateful to be back in the water again!