Diving the Kona Coast: spinner dolphins

Showing posts with label spinner dolphins. Show all posts

Friday, June 6, 2014

Artsy Dolphins

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.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Dolphins in Honaunau Bay

Hawaiian spinner dolphins Stenella longirostris

Friday, March 28, 2014

Just Passing Through

spinner dolphins Stenella longirostris

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Super Sunday - Dive Report for 02/07/10

We were blessed with another day of great shore diving conditions at Honaunau on this fine Super Bowl Sunday morning. Clear skies and clear calm water once again. We have been having a wonderful winter diving season.

The Green Sea Turtles, also known as honu, have returned to the bay after a brief hiatus. I spent the first dive trying to get some shots of them at cleaning stations on the south side of the bay.

The trick to photographing this activity is to not scare off the fish doing the cleaning, in this case, a small group of Yellow Tangs.

I did alright by my somewhat low standards. The early morning sunlight filtering through the water lent a nice background scene.

I love photographing honus. They're big, docile, colorful (compared to other big marine subjects) and somewhat expressive. They seem to convey a sense of wisdom and dignity.

During the course of photographing the honu, this small Finescale Triggerfish gave me a photo op. These fish were only seen occasionally in Hawai'i until a few years ago. Until that time it was thought that they were swept in on currents from other parts of the Pacific. Now, experts believe they are established in Hawaiian waters and breeding locally.

During my surface interval, I watched 2 or 3 Humpbacks spouting and diving outside the bay. A pod of Spinner Dolphins also showed up, much to the delight of the assembled crowd. After an hour, I geared up and went below again.

The dolphins were spending a good amount of time in shallow water and remained pretty frisky throughout my dive. They are always a remarkable sight. I spent a little time looking around the reef but mostly I just hung out with the dolphins.

The two photos above are not ones I think are all that great, but they do illustrate how close the dolphins approach swimmers in Honaunau Bay. In the top photo, a pair of snorkelers hovers above a phalanx of dolphins. The lower photo shows dolphins gliding over a group of student divers.

As you can see, people could get a good look at the dolphins today without even getting in the water.

After my second dive, I hung out and got to see two whale breeches. I'm amazed at how many whale sightings there are this year. After going home and cleaning my gear, I took a nap and ended up missing the entire Super Bowl. I heard it was pretty good but I had a super day of my own!

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!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Dive Report for Saturday 12/05/09

The water was a little rough at Honaunau Bay on Saturday but nowhere near the double digits forecasted for west-facing shores. A high surf advisory is in effect through Wednesday. When I arrived at the beach, groups of Spinner Dolphins (Nai'a) were visible in the north end of the bay, approaching quite near to shore. I donned my gear and swam out in the general direction of the pod.

Even before I could get off the surface, the dolphins were all around me. It was still early in the morning (around 7:15) so there was not a great deal of sunlight to photograph by.

The dolphins were apparently freshly arrived after a night of hunting out in the deep ocean. They were leaping out of the water and the sea was abuzz with their clicks and whistles.

I give the dolphins plenty of space and how close they come is entirely up to them. On almost every encounter, there is a sub-group of three or four males who will make a few close passes. This seems to be their role in the pod, to check out any interlopers and make sure they pose no threat.

In the early morning light the image of dolphins descending on you is almost celestial or spiritual. I find myself thinking it's like seeing angels appear out of the heavens,

Very few days pass where I don't stop and think about what a fortunate soul I am. Especially so on mornings like this at Honaunau Bay. Encountering wild dolphins, on their own terms is like a waking dream. Moving to the Big Island was one of the best decisions my wife and I ever made.

I estimated there to be ~ 30 individuals in the pod although they were divided into sub-groups. When I started to get low on air, I retreated to the shallow waters of the reef to off-gas and look at some of the smaller creatures. When I returned to the beach, I looked seaward to find that the dolphins had departed from the bay. I was glad they spent part of their brief visit with me.

After an hour's surface interval, I re-entered the ocean again and was lucky enough to have another encounter with a big creature. This time, I happened upon upon a "baby" Spotted Eagle Ray in the south end of the bay. This individual is well known to local SCUBA and free-divers who have been casually observing her progress over the last couple months. She has an almost ridiculously long tail that she will "grow into" as she matures.

I took a few photos while she circled around in the sand looking for prey. As she drifted away, I turned my attention toward other matters. Like dolphins, rays pretty much control the duration of any encounter as they can swim away whenever they choose.

A few moments later I looked up and saw her soaring along the drop-off as gracefully as her namesake bird. It was a remarkable sight to see backlit against the morning light.

One last sight to share. This cheerful wreath is actually the egg mass of a large sea slug called a Spanish Dancer nudibranch. I include it here because it puts me in mind of the holiday season which I hope you all are enjoying!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins

One of the truly special and amazing things about living along the Kona coast is being able to see Spinner Dolphins (Stenella longirostris) frequently and at close range. These mammals are essentially nocturnal, feeding in the deep waters of the open sea at night. As daylight breaks, many of them seek sanctuary in shallow bays and coves for the specific purpose of resting. Upon entering a bay the dolphins exhibit their trademark behavior of leaping out of the water and spinning on their long axis up to seven times before crashing back into the water. If you are in the water during this period, you can hear their distinctive clicks and whistles. However, within an hour or so, they settle down. They stop leaping and vocalizing as they enter their rest cycle.

This rest period is critical to the health and well-being of the dolphin. They are negatively buoyant (they sink instead of float) and they don't breathe automatically like we do. As such, dolphins sleep one hemisphere of the brain at a time. The hemisphere that remains conscious keeps the dolphin swimming (so it doesn't sink) and surfacing (so it can breathe). This makes it appear that the dolphin is active and awake. Despite appearances, the dolphins are sleeping and need to remain undisturbed during this time.

Dolphins are beautiful and graceful animals that elicit strong feelings in people. Seeing them in the wild is exciting and simply incredible. If you are lucky enough to be in the water when they pass by, you feel a sense of awe and wonder as well as a feeling of being truly privileged to see such a beautiful sight.

The bond people have for dolphins is not always a good thing. Often they are mobbed by swimmers and kayakers as soon as they enter a bay and are either driven away or deprived of sleep. Some people also have "unique" ideas about dolphins, ascribing to them spiritual and even extra-terrestrial characteristics and powers. This leads them to do odd and harmful things to dolphins such as pressing crystal amulets against them and trying to physically "bond" with them. A few years ago, there was a woman at Honaunau who would swim topless with the dolphins, attempting to rub her breasts against them. It wasn't pretty. It takes all kinds, I guess. I encourage anyone reading this to use a common-sense approach with dolphins. They are powerful, wild animals with numerous, big teeth that live in an environment that humans are not well adapted to. And, regardless of some people's fantasies, they can be aggressive and injurious to humans as well as to each other. Respect them and they are likely to respect you.