Diving the Kona Coast: Bluefin Trevally

Friday, May 7, 2010

Belated Weekend Dive Report for 5/02/10

This was a busy week and I just didn't have time to post until now. Last week I had a really great pair of dives in Keauhou Bay with lots of big animal contacts that I just hadn't been getting at Honaunau recently.

One thing that is almost a constant in Keauhou Bay is the "baitball". A huge swirling mass of what appears to be thousands of Bigeye Scad or akule. The location of the ball changes but it's always somewhere in the bay. My camera's wide angle lens can't capture the whole "baitball" but I took this photo as I descended through its "eye".

At the bottom of the baitball it's almost as dark as night. Down there, big Greater Amberjacks cruise slowly waiting to make a quick lunge and pick off one of the akule.

Another thing you can almost always count on seeing at Keauhou Bay is Horned Helmet shells. They are usually half-buried in the sand, but I pulled this one out for a quick photo before replacing it in the sand.

I had very nice manta encounters on both dives and got a lot of photos. In these two, a big girl gets a thorough grooming by two Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse. The Cleaning stations are perfect for good close-up photo opportunities.

Any encounter with Mantas is a great experience and in Keauhou Bay they tend to linger in discrete areas for long periods of time.

This Crown-of-Thorns was creeping along the rubble bottom and wasn't threatening any coral at the moment.

This Amberjack came up to me and circled several times. I was far from the baitball and the jack seemed to be heading out to the deeper waters outside the bay. Maybe he had his fill of akule.

I had another jack encounter with this Bluefin Trevally or omilu. This one was on the smallish side and followed me around for a few minutes. Sometimes smaller predators like to follow around bigger predators hoping for a chance to snatch some scraps. Maybe this fish thought I was a big carnivore.

These fish are mostly silver but have really cool-looking, neon-bright blue fins which make them a real treat to see.

That's all the photos I have for now. Hopefully, I'll get in the water this weekend and take some more!

Aloha

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Morning at Kealakekua Bay

Betty's birthday was on New Year's Eve and we spent the weekend celebrating. The one activity she really wanted to do was go for a snorkel cruise on the Fairwind ll. The Fairwind is a big catamaran that cruises to Kealakekua Bay which is a really beautiful marine preserve. The boat is roomy and comfortable, the crew very attentive and a continental breakfast and lunch are served. Whenever we have mainland guests, we usually take them out on this cruise. It's just a nice relaxing day.

The birthday girl and her favorite little guy, grandson Jacques.

Jacques and his mommy, Trina.

Under way!

As we entered Kealakekua Bay. two Humpback Whales breached around 50 yards away from the boat. The resulting splash looked like a giant explosion. They swam out to the open ocean but one of them breached again and both of them "spy-hopped" Spy-hopping is when a whale sticks its head vertically out of the water to look at things above the waterline.

Seeing whales was cool enough to impress even a 5 year old!

The water was clear and beautiful. Conditions in the bay are almost always calm and the weather today was bright and sunny.

Betty enjoying a swim.

A Bluefin Trevally glides through the shallows

This Leatherback followed close behind

As usual, we had a great time on the Fairwind. I recommend this activity highly whether you're a visitor or resident. I'm including a link on the right side of this page.