Artsy Dolphins

Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Sometimes the weather and the water and the dolphins all cooperate to give you a neat picture and it turns out blurry anyway. That's when you put that failed attempt into PhotoShop, try to make it look artsy, and convince yourself that you wanted it to look like that all along.

Dive Site

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

This is what I see just before an early morning descent at my favorite dive site, Honaunau Bay. The palm trees in the distance are at Pu'uhonua O' Honaunau National Historical Park. To the left can be seen the gentle slope of Mauna Loa.

"Looking to the Earth With Care"

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

That's the meaning of the species name, terramtuentis, for this nudibranch which was first identified in 1982.

gold lace nudibranch                     Halgerda terramtuentis

Dark Reef

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

green sea turtle                 Chelonia mydas

Netted Pattern

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

reticulated butterflyfish             Chaetodon reticulatus

Bug

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Regal Slipper Lobster               (Arctides regalis)

King of the Hill

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Peacock Grouper     Cephalopholis argus

At the Shorebreak

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Hawaiian green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

Bunkmates

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

This photo shows a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) sharing its resting spot with a whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus). As mismatched as this arrangement may seem, I've actually seen it several times and I imagine it must be fairly common. Both species like to shelter under ledges or in lava tubes during the day and, since such places are in short supply, inter-species co-habitation sometimes occurs. This type of shark has small teeth and feeds on small reef fishes and invertebrates so the turtle is not in peril.

These species like to shelter in tight spaces so getting a pleasing photo of both creatures is difficult. Hence, the shark's face being obscured. 

Common long nose butterflyfish

Photo Copyright 2014 by Barry Fackler

Forcipiger flavissimus

Happy Couple

Haven't been seeing a lot of really interesting stuff recently. but I did get this shot of a pair of moorish idols (Zanclus cornutus) gliding serenely along a wall at Honaunau. I thought they made a nice couple. Have a nice weekend!

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

Flocking Goats

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

On the North side of Honaunau Bay is a school of yellowfin goatfish (Mulloidichthys varicolensis) that is there every time I pass by. All day long, season after season this school hovers motionless almost in the same spot. As a result, I tend not to pay it much notice.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

However, I noticed recently how pretty this group of fish appears, especially in the early morning as the sunlight filters through the water. Usually, there are one or two other fish mixed in the school. Goatfish are so named for the two sensory barbels on their chins that distantly resemble a goat's beard. At night, the school disperses and each individual probes the sand with its barbels in search of invertebrates to eat. Come sunrise, they have all regrouped at the customary spot.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

Skinny-Minnie

Encountered on almost every reef dive, the Bluespotted Cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii) is so common I seldom photograph it.  Still, it's an interesting fish that looks like it has been run over by a steamroller. Even the eyes look flattened!

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

The cornetfish only moves the rear third of its body as it swims. While appearing very slender in profile, when viewed from above it is surprisingly stout.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

on night dives I have heard this species "honk" when startled by the beam of my light passing over it. 

Skinny-Dip

This is why it's kind of dumb to go skinny-dipping in broad daylight at a popular diving site. It was quite a show.

Whitemouth Moray

Just wanted to share a couple of photos I took at the beginning of the month when we had the coral spawning. These photos of a whitemouth moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) were taken about two hours after the spawning.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

You can see that the water's surface still looks a little blurry from all the organic material remaining in the water column. I don't know if whitemouths are the most common morays in Hawai'i but they are definitely the species I see most often.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

In the photo above I changed the angle a little bit to get more of a side profile. It wasn't  until I got home and started going through the photos that I noticed the other eel in the background on the left side. Kewl!

Loving Lizardfish

Just a photo I took this weekend of a pair of reef lizardfish (Synodus variagatus) looking very cozy together.

Photo Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

Baby Reticulated

All Photos Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

 The reticulated butterflyfish (Chaetodon reticulatus) is an uncommon species in Hawai'i. Over the years I've seen the occasional pair at Honaunau, but they are usually moving rapidly and don't like to be approached. 

These photos are of a juvenile reticulated that I found a few weeks ago. Although I don't see it on every dive, it favors a discrete area of the bay and is usually there.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep tabs on it as it grows and keep a photographic record of its growth. We'll see!

Cauliflower Coral Spawn

As I prepared to enter the water at Honaunau on April 27, a local asked me if I had come to photograph the coral spawn. I had no idea such an event was expected and just told him I was there to see whatever there was to see. He replied that the spawning would start in 15 to 20 minutes.

I dropped below the surface and started exploring, appreciating some of the best visibility I had seen in some time. Sure enough, around 15 minutes into the dive smoky haze began to emerge from the cauliflower corals (Pocillopora meandrina).

All photos Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

My vision could not distinguish individual gametes like I had seen in some documentaries, but what started out as a light haze increased very rapidly.

Visibility quickly dropped from nearly 100' to about 6' in around five minutes. It actually got surprisingly darker and the reef fish, including non-plankton-feeders, became more active.

For a few minutes, I could no longer navigate as my only visual reference was the direction that sunlight was weakly filtering through the thickened water. This was a very new experience for me.

I imagined such a burst of microscopic activity might bring a giant filter-feeder or two onto the reef but that was not to be. After a short while the fog began to clear and I resumed my dive. After completing my dive and taking a one-hour surface interval, I returned for a second dive to find visibility almost back to normal.

After returning home, i searched the internet to find that Pocillopra meandrina spawns April/May at full moon and/or 2-3 days after at around 7:30 in the morning. So it was one of those rare occasions where I was at the right place at the right time!

New Profile Pic!

Here's a new profile pic of yours truly!                                                                                                 

Try to contain your enthusiasm.

Spotted Pufferfish

The fish du jour for today is the spotted pufferfish (Arothron meleagris), a fairly common species here in Hawai'i. Like all puffers, when alarmed it swallows big gulps of water to make itself too large for a predator to swallow.

Copyright 2013 by Barry Fackler

The Hawaiian name for this fish is o'opu hue or simply keke. It is also known as the guineafowl puffer or the velcro puffer on account of its bristly skin. Interestingly, the skin of this cute fish secretes a toxic mucus and should not be handled.