Diving the Kona Coast

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Sea Star Shrimp

On a coral reef, one life tends to be layered on another life. Aside from the prey/predator relationship, the reef abounds with examples of symbiosis and commensalism.

The cushion star (Culcita nova guineae) is a common echinoderm on Hawaiian reefs. A casual look shows nothing more than a puffy-looking "starfish". But closer examination reveals the presence of tiny sea star shrimp (Periclimenes soror) clinging to the sea star's bristly skin.

These commensal shrimp live in small groups on a sea star and change color to match that of their host.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Octopus Love on St. Patrick's Day

This Saint Patrick's Day I arrived bright and early (well, just early) at Two Step for a little diving. The water is still spectacularly cold at around 73 deg. F. The conditions, otherwise, were pretty good. Toward the end of my first dive, I happened upon a large, handsome octopus and settled in to get some shots.

Like most octopi, this one displayed a combination of shyness and curiosity. Sometimes hunkering down in the coral to hide and other times "standing up" on the reef to get a good look at me.

I followed the creature as it jetted from one coral head to another and morphed through a range of colors and textures.

After several minutes of this, He settled on a patch of coral and assumed an upright posture. To my surprise a smaller octo rose up a short distance beyond him. For a short time they remained stationary, just pulsating on top of the coral. Then, slowly, they oozed toward each other, tentacles reaching out. I was able to get a photo just as the male extended his hectocotylus arm under the female's mantle to inseminate her.

And then, just like that, it was over, each octopus jetting off in different directions. A brief flurry of 16 arms hopefully resulting in a new generation of cephalopods. Happy St. Patrick's Day, young lovers!

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

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Quick Change Artist

I snapped these two photos of a Common Bigeye (Heteropriacanthus cruentatus) literally just seconds apart. That was all the time it took for the fish to change from its blotchy red and silver resting color to its blood-red active color. The Hawaiian name for this fish is Aweoweo which translates to "glowing red". It is most active at night and is a popular food fish.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Fun With Photoshop

Aloha Everyone,

Between the winter surf and various minor ailments, I haven't gotten too many dives in recently. To amuse myself, I've been doing a bit of experimenting with my images on Photoshop. Here are a few of them for you to check out.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Something You Don't See Every Day

Last weekend I chanced upon a small Whitetip Reef Shark while diving the north end of Honaunau Bay. That, in itself, is not unusual but what happened after it settled into a small cave was a new sight for me. Two Banded Coral Shrimp started to clean the shark's mouth and teeth with the shark opening wide to allow the cleaning process to proceed unfettered. I've seen these and other shrimp servicing predators like groupers and morays, but never a shark.

I only got one, blurry and poorly lit photo as all this was occurring far back in a very tight cave. But you can get the general idea of what's going on from the photo below.

It seems that no matter how often you dive, the sea always has something new to show you. Have a nice day!