Diving the Kona Coast: Kailua-Kona

Showing posts with label Kailua-Kona. Show all posts

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Artist's Reception @ Peaberry & Galette

During the month of June, a sampling of my photos will be on exhibit at Peaberry & Galette coffee shop in the Keauhou Shopping Center. This past Friday (6/6/14), Betty arranged an artist's reception for me. We had a pretty fantastic turnout and had a great time. Plenty of food, wine and talk story about the ocean and photography!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Peeking Octo

day octopus Octopus cyanea

Saturday, March 22, 2014

VAVA II

The super yacht VAVA II spent several days moored in Kailua Bay and was the talk of the town throughout its stay. There is much information about the vessel and the fabulously wealthy owners available on the internet. Note the helicopter as well as the paddle boarder on the right who is getting a close-up look at how the 1% live.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

New Restaurant in Town - With Mantas!

Recently, Betty and I dined at one of the newest restaurants in town "Rays on the Bay" in the Sheraton Keauhou Resort and Spa. It was truly a wonderful dining experience with superb food and excellent service.

The restaurant has a nice atmosphere with covered, outdoor seating overlooking Keauhou Bay, where Betty and I have the majority of our manta ray encounters when SCUBA diving.

Betty had the Steak & Lobster...

and I had the Mahi Mahi & Lobster.

Everything was wonderfully seasoned and very tasty. I sampled Betty's steak and found it to be as tender and flavorful as she claimed it to be.

The Mai Tais were nice, too!

After dinner, we lingered by the railing and watched the manta rays that were attracted by the lights shining into the water. I tried to photograph them but it was too dark.

I would highly recommend "Rays on the Bay" to visitors and Kama'aina alike!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Last Weekend's Dolphin Encounter at Honaunau

Thought I'd post a few pics of the spinner dolphin activity at Honaunau last Saturday. Probably 50 cetaceans with at least 5 juveniles. One mom had two small calves with her. Maybe she was tending one for another mom or maybe a rare instance of twins.

I took this photo just before descent. The heiau, the palms, the blue sky and puffy white clouds all looked so perfect. Of course, there is the prerequisite water drop on the housing lens!

Down at depth, a lot of dolphin activity with elements of the pod coming moderately close but not super close. Lots of clicks and squeals with the pod still wide awake and energized.

This subgroup came right by me as they surfaced for air.

This was my one close encounter of the dive. Even though the dolphins stayed too far away, I remained uncharacteristically optimistic and used my strobe unit. This female seemed intrigued by the flash and came nearer to check it out. I got this wonderful "blowhole shot" without the benefit of flash as,of course, it was still recycling.

Nevertheless, a better day of diving than a lot of folks get and another little adventure to treasure.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Couple of Photos I Really Like

Obviously, I take a lot of photos and I'm pleased enough with many of them to share them on the internet with you. While they may be technically "good" usually they're not anything particularly special to me. This past weekend, however, I got a couple captures I really like...

For over a month I've been regularly visiting a group of six juvenile moorish idols that remain in the same general spot on the reef. Like many fish, they get skittish when approached and scatter and disappear within the coral. Over several dives, I've taken hundreds of photos of this group with only a few decent results. But on Saturday, I got this image of three of the idols in good position over the coral with gentle early morning sunlight filtering into the frame from directly behind. Maybe it's not high art, but it's a pleasant enough image.

Near the end of that same dive, I happened upon a green sea turtle swimming along near my exit point. I followed and caught this image at the moment she surfaced for air. Although I have several photos of turtles taking a breath, most of them are from almost directly below. Here, I was swimming alongside and only slightly below allowing for a nice reflection of the turtle on the surface and nicer blues and greens. Also, the strobes didn't fire as I had taken a shot only seconds earlier. This was good as there was plenty of ambient light and flash would have just caused a lot of backscatter.

Anyway, hope you like the photos. Barry

Friday, August 12, 2011

Commerson's Frogfish, juvenile

I've been seeing this juvenile Commerson's Frogfish for the last three weekends now. It's a pretty big juvenile (about five inches long) and I suspect it will be losing its bright yellow coloration and gaining less conspicuous camouflage. It has been very cooperative for photographs and stays in the same general area.

All Photographs are Copyrighted 2011 by Barry Fackler

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hairy Yellow Hermit Crab

Last week I was lucky enough to happen upon a true giant and kind of an uncommon find (for me at least!). This is a Hairy Yellow Hermit Crab (Aniculus maximus) which grows as large as a man's hand and is easily the largest hermit crab in Hawai'i. I found this one on the north side of Honaunau Bay not far from where I found that Triton's Trumpet earlier in the week. As you can see, this crab is big enough and strong enough to utilize a Triton's Trumpet shell as its mobile home.

This close-up gives you an idea of how hairy these crabs really are! Nothing I've read indicates if this extreme fuzziness serves any practical purpose.

This shot shows how beautiful the shell of this animal was. It looked like it could have come off the shelf of a seaside curio shop. I wonder what became of the shell's original occupant as the shell was totally undamaged and showed no obvious outward signs of violent predation.

One last photo showing the bristly behemoth surveying his domain. Hope you enjoyed these snaps of an unusual reef resident. Aloha!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Ocean Fair at Jack's Diving Locker

This past Saturday Jack's Diving Locker held an Ocean Fair which included diving seminars on various subjects as well as craft and game activities for the kids. We took our six-year-old grandson Jacques to the Fair where he got to try out kid-sized SASY scuba gear in the pool. While he had a little trouble with the mask, he was a natural with the regulator and had a good introductory experience.

Jacques was eager to try out the regulator.

His instructor was Wendy who was excellent and very patient.

He looked awful cute.

"I can see my feet!"

Probably as much as anything else, Jacques enjoyed the bubbles from the free-flowing regulator.

The Ocean Fair was an excellent experience for Jacques and I would recommend anyone with kids who are interested in the sea to attend next year's fair.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Dive Report for Sunday 03/21/10

The surf was really up this morning! I took this photo with my cell phone and it shows big waves slapping the lava flow that extends seaward from the national park at the southern end of the cove. There was big surf to the north as well, but inside the cove conditions were manageable and visibility was OK. Water temp is still hovering at ~74 degrees.

Early in the first dive I found this Bullethead Parrotfish scraping algae from the coral. You can clearly hear the beak scraping the rock-hard surface. The fish ingests the calcium carbonate "skeleton" of the coral and (very) shortly thereafter poops it out as beach sand.

This little male Spotted Boxfish kept me entertained for awhile. It's body is covered with hexagonal plates and is fairly rigid. Nevertheless it is quite nimble and surprisingly fast for a creature that is as streamlined as a box!

I resisted the temptation to photograph another octopus that I found today. After all, how many octo photos does one blog need? I have a much harder time ignoring honus. This one was extremely mellow, swimming right along with me for a few minutes before rising to the surface for air.

I caught this Hawaiian Dascyllus being given the once over by a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse. In this photo the wrasse is oriented so his "back" (dorsal surface) is facing the camera.

On the second dive, I saw this Moorish Idol. This one is a small adult. It used to have a partner with it but now seems to be going solo.

This funny little fish used to be called a Leopard Blenny. Later, the common name was changed to Shortbodied Blenny. This year it's called a Spotted Coral Blenny. Some species of fish are doomed to have an identity crisis created by fickle fish fanciers! They usually sit out in the open but seem to freak out the nano-second you make eye contact with them. They frantically dive down into the coral and erratically and quickly do a series of quick peeks at you before disappearing for good. This one was an exception, allowing me to take several photos which I am very happy to share.

Another little treat was this Jeweled Anemone Crab. Like all hermit crabs it inhabits a snail shell for protection. But this kind goes a step further by attaching anemones to its shell. When disturbed, the anemones eject bright pink stinging filaments called acontia. This gives the crab an additional line of defense. Nature is awesome.

My last photo for this post is the lowly and under-appreciated Hawaiian Sergeant. Plain and common it doesn't get much attention. I've been giving the species a little more attention as thy are cooperative photo subjects.

That's all for now, folks. See you next time!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Dental Hygienists at Work

As promised in a previous posting, here is a photo of yours truly with a pair of Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp tending to my dental and facial hygiene. The critters tend to pick between your teeth rather vigorously and this experience isn't for everyone.

By no means did I come up with this myself. I saw a picture of someone doing this in a magazine article and thought I'd give it a try. It was pretty easy providing you can hover well and make no sudden moves. When you have to take a breath from your regulator, just start to close your mouth slowly and the shrimp will get the message to evacuate.

There is a videographer here in Kona who likes to show video of himself getting his teeth cleaned by shrimp. He breathlessly tells audiences of tourists that it took many dives to the same spot for the shrimp to finally trust him enough to enter his mouth. This was not my experience at all. I just took up station near them, opened my mouth and they swam right in and got to work. Maybe I need to work on my storytelling technique!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year! Dive Report for Friday, 01/01/10

Happy New Year to you all! Let's all hope for a better year and a happier world in 2010.

I had hoped to get another diving day in before the year ended but a combination of poor surf conditions and holiday festivities kept me on dry land.

This morning, I watched the blue moon set behind a bank of ominous clouds that hung over the Pacific. To the east, the sun had not quite cleared the summit of Mauna Loa. The tide was high and the lava rock beach was partly awash. The shoreline was deserted and I realized that I was making the first dive of the new decade from the Two-Step. I thought about all the thousands of divers and countless adventures that would start from this spot over the next ten years.

There was considerable surge today and visibility was pretty lackluster with a lot of planktonic detritus hanging in the water column. The vis wasn't much improved down at 82 feet where I bottomed out for this dive. I initially headed south but encountered surge when I came up to around 35 feet. Figuring that things weren't likely to improve, I swung around and headed north.

I found my little school of Pyramid Butterflyfish in good shape today. They seem to be growing and thriving. The area of coral rubble they inhabit seems like an underwater nursery with juvenile tropicals all about.

I spied this pair of tiny Moorish Idols peeking from the coral. They were very shy and wouldn't let me get a photo without one of them hidden by the coral. I don't see Idols this small usually.

This large pair of Reef Lizardfish was being groomed by a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse. This is a little unusual to me as I usually see swimming fish hovering at cleaning stations for servicing. It's not often that the wrasse ventures away to clean a bottom-dwelling fish.

This photo gives a little insight into the occupational hazard of being a cleaner wrasse. The Reef Lizardfish has a mouth bristling with fine, sharp teeth. It is capable of snatching and devouring whole a fish 3 or 4 times larger than the wrasse.

When I surfaced, I found the beach crowded with at least a hundred people. A good-sized pod of Spinner Dolphins was in the deep waters of the northern side of the bay. This is certain to draw a crowd in this age of cell-phones. After a surface interval, I geared up and swam out to see if they would approach me.

The Nai'a were very sociable this day and approached closely on multiple occasions. Even when not visible to the eye, they made their presence know with their squeals, clicks and whistles.

A really outstanding time with the dolphins today. The photos show how close they chose to approach. When my air supply was about half gone, I headed back to the reef to finish my dive in shallower water.

I saw a pair of female Whitley's Boxfish flitting along the reef. Despite their awkward shape, they are quite agile and surprisingly fast. The males are bigger and have beautiful dark blue markings. Males are seldom seen and, personally, I haven't seen one in a couple of years.

Sometimes Cornetfish, like this one, will follow a diver for a little while. Betty and I once saw one swimming along above a Green Sea Turtle with it's body arched to match the contour of the turtle's shell.

SCUBA diving provides little miracles every now and then. As I was finishing up my dive in just 17 feet of water, I looked to my right to see around 20 more dolphins swimming right past me. They pulled ahead, and then turned around and spiraled all about me. A really magical moment.

Many of you have probably already surmised that the dolphins swimming upside down are engaging in sexual intercourse with the ones immediately above them. Dolphins have no need for prudishness and this behavior is seen every time dolphins are observed underwater.

I left the water today feeling tired but exhilarated by the wonders I had seen. While sitting on the beach, I saw Humpback Whales spouting and surfacing near the entrance of the bay. It was quite a scene with the dolphins still frolicking in the foreground and the beach crowd was very appreciative. After an hour of sunning, I gathered my wetsuit and folded my beach chair and started for my Jeep. Then I heard someone say "There they are again". I turned to see a puff of vapor and the black, shiny back of a whale sliding beneath the surface. I paused to see if it would re-surface. To the astonishment of all, the mighty form of a Humpback Whale shot skyward. It spun in a three-quarter turn to it's right, hung in the air for a second and then crashed back into the sea in an explosive cloud of foam. It was close enough that the grooves on it's ventral side could be plainly seen. What a fantastic sight!

It was a great day at the beach and I believe that all these wonderful occurences on New Years Day bode well for 2010!