One of my favorite places at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden is Lily Lake. Surrounded by tropical foliage, the lake offers a bounty of reflections, such as this one.
Abstracts: Lily Lake reflections
Author Archives: Graham
Yellow Tangs
Yellow Tangs are about the most easily identified reef fish. They’re easily spotted from shore, puttering about in the shallows in large schools. In the water, their bright yellow color stands out even in murky water.
These fish are almost entirely yellow except for the white scalpel at the base of the tail. One or the other of these sharp spines can be flicked out and can inflict a serious cut on the unwary. When they spar with each other, they go round in circles trying to keep the exposed scalpel of the other fish away from them while trying to maneuver their own into a dangerous position.
Yellow tangs are a prime target of the aquarium fish industry. They don’t breed in captivity so every yellow tang in an aquarium is one taken from the wild. While these fish can been found around the Pacific, Hawaii is where they are most numerous and where most of these yellow tangs are taken. There have been a few bans on the trade in some places, affording some respite from the steady decline in numbers. Alas, our elected representatives have yet to exhibit enough backbone to impose a ban that is permanent and significant enough to allow fish stocks to truly rebound.
Another invasive species
I went for a drive up Old Saddle Road yesterday and noticed this unusual tree. It is, of course, that now ubiquitous invasive species, the cell phone tower. At least this one had the good grace to try and blend into its surroundings, and does a decent job of it.
This ‘tree’ is located on the grounds of Camp Kilohana, the Girls Scouts Camp on the Big Island.
Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.
Road closed
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Roads, Paths, and Streets.’ See more responses here.
After a recent hike off Saddle Road, I had time to take a drive up one of my favorite roads on the island, which leads to the Mauna Loa Observatory. Well, it used to; it doesn’t get there anymore. That’s because a flow from last fall’s eruption of Mauna Loa crossed the road a few miles short of its destination. I was curious to see what the scene looked like now.
The cloudy skies added some atmosphere to the drive which was, as always, a lot of fun. It’s a winding one lane road, so even though there’s little traffic, one has to pay attention. Any distraction could result in driving off the road into the inhospitable lava fields bordering it.
I confess, my secret hope was that, when I arrived at the flow, there would be a sign saying ‘Road Closed.’ Alas, that was not the case. Clearly, the Department of Transportation figured the seven foot high wall of lava conveyed the message well enough on its own. The only sign there warned against walking on the new flow. I didn’t need that warning. This is a’a lava which is really hard to walk on anyway, and in a new flow it could be quite unstable and even harbor pockets where one could fall through into still hot lava! Still, I’m sure some folks have clambered up there just because it’s there.
I took a few photos, then turned around and headed back down, not least because it was damp, windy and I was freezing, which is not why anyone comes to, or lives in, Hawaii.
On the drive down, I got a good view of the HI-SEAS (Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) dome. This is where teams of volunteers do research for what it would be like to be living on the Moon or Mars. I’m not sure if it’s in use since the COVID shutdown, but at least it survived the last eruption.
Farther down, the land seemed to be steaming, but in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the weather often seems to be part of the landscape.
And the views, which change with every twist in the road, are strange and stunning and wonderful. It may not be possible currently to reach the end of the road, but it’s still a great drive.
Kōlea lau nui
Kōlea lau nui (Myrsine lessertiana) is a tree that can grow up to 60 feet high. But it’s the new leaf growth that is its most striking feature. The color of the new growth can vary quite a bit, but it’s these deep pink leaves which really stand out in the otherwise mostly green woods where I’ve see them.
Plane landing at Kona Airport
The approach to Kona Airport passes over barren lava fields and I often feel for people who must look down from the plane and wonder what the heck happened to the beautiful, tropical Hawaii they were looking forward to visiting. I know I felt that way on my first visit.
Abstract: Something is watching
A blenny looks up from a tide pool, blending into its surroundings so that it is hard to spot.
Fishermen
I saw these two fishermen on these rocks at the foot of a cliff in North Kohala. By the time I got organized, this is the photo I got. The photo I was after happened moments earlier, when the pair were being soaked by spray from a big set of swells breaking against the rock shelf the right of this photo. By the time the next big swells moved in the two of them had moved farther away from that spot and the photo opportunity had gone.
Graham's Island 