Honokohau harbor, at the north end of Kailua-Kona, is the main small boat harbor on the west side of the Big Island. Here, under an ominous sky, a man does some work near the top of the mast of one boat.
Author Archives: Graham
Metallic skink in the lava
A metallic skink peeks out from under a lava ledge. This was on the Puʻu ʻŌʻō Trail, off Saddle Road at an elevation of more than 5,000 feet. It seemed a very challenging environment for the skink.
Cannonball tree
The cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) is pretty distinctive. It sprouts pink or red flowers the length of its trunk and follows them with woody, round fruits that give the tree its name. This one was at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Japanese white-eye nesting
A peek of a Japanese white-eye sitting on a clutch of eggs in its nest.
Tropical coast
One things I like about the east side of the Big Island is the variety of places where one gets a peek of the ocean through tropical foliage. Sometimes this can be from the main highway that circles the island (the belt highway). More often, it’s from a smaller road.
This view of the Pacific is from a narrow, twisty stretch of the original belt highway, north of Hilo.
Abstracts: Disappearing eel
I thought I’d seen the last of a large undulating eel when it slid under a ledge, but it re-emerged, only to slide into a crease in this patch of coral. The tail was visible for a short while, giving me this final peek, until that too disappeared.
Sailfin tang
Sailfin tang are pretty common. Usually the ones I see are a dark brown with vertical yellow bars and a yellow tail. A close look reveals thinner pale stripes between the vertical bars. There’s a photo here.
These two sailfin tangs, that I saw in shallow, murky water, were a first for me. They’re much paler and brighter, the thinner stripes are clearly defined, and their dorsal and anal fins are extended.
According to my fish book, the fins extension could be because the fish were alarmed, but it doesn’t say anything about them become lighter when this happens. I wondered if it was some sort of mating coloration, but again, my book says the fish darken when they do that.
So I’m not sure what was going on, but was happy to have spotted them and pleased that I got a decent photo given the murky water conditions.
Hawaiian tiger
It’s Halloween, so I thought I should post something scary. Trouble is, there’s not a lot of scary stuff on the Big Island. Then I thought of the tiger I saw while out hiking one day.
Around this point is when I get an angry call from the Big Island tourist bureau, so I should clarify that my hike was through Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo and the tiger is Tzatziki, a white Bengal tiger. Tzatziki is one of two tigers at the zoo. They arrived in March of 2016 as replacements for Namaste, another white Bengal tiger, who died in January 2014 at the age of 15.
Tzatziki is a reasonable choice for Halloween. He’s ghostly white and, as for scary, just imagine tumbling into the tiger enclosure. I suspect it would be a rapid transition from spectator to chew toy.
For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.
Graham's Island 