Category Archives: Activities

Black sand, white pole holders

Fishing pole holders Kona coastKona coast surgeKona coast lava

Between Kailua Kona Airport and Kekaha Kai State Park is a stretch of coastline heavy on lava and aircraft coming in to land, but light on vegetation and people.

There’s a fair smattering of black sand to be found in little coves and one proper black sand beach at Makole’a (below).

In several places, white plastic tubes can be seen wedged or cemented in to the lava (above). They’re fishing pole holders and are a common sight on most of the island’s coastline.

And then there are the usual features of old lava flows by the ocean including blow holes and fractured lava tubes where the ocean surges in and out again (right).

Kona coast black sand beach Makole'a

Ironman 70.3

Going the other way at Ironman 70.3Approaching the turn at Ironman 70.3Last Saturday was the Ironman 70.3 race on the island. Unlike the Ironman world championship, held here in October, the 70.3 series covers half the distance. That means there’s a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run. However, as with the longer race, Hawi is the turnaround point on the bike leg, so I ambled down to take a look.

Top: Racers heading in opposite directions shortly before/after the turnaround.
Middle: Slowing to make the turn.
Below: Bottles and trash can only be dropped in certain areas, where volunteers quickly pick them up for disposal or recycling.

I figure that if they’re doing a half distance race, it can’t be longer before they offer other shorter versions. I’m waiting until they get down to a one sixty-fourth Ironman and then I’m racing. Still a little worried about the run though.

Passing cyclists at Ironman 70.3

The eyes have it

Sheep with older lamb

Another response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’

After a recent hike, I was returning to my truck and saw a small flock of sheep ahead on the track. These two caught my attention. The smaller one on the right was, I assume, the other’s lamb. Just before I took this photo, I saw it going for milk with that pneumatic drill approach that lambs have.

Before and after that, the ewe stood still, unwaveringly fixing me with those intense eyes. Then the two of them ran off to follow the rest of the flock that had already moved on.

Devil scorpionfish

Devil Scorpionfish displaying

Devil ScorpionfishAnother response to the last edition of the WordPress photo challenge with a theme of ‘All time favorites.’

There’s no doubt that moving to Hawaii has allowed me to gain an appreciation for creatures that live underwater. Where I lived before, in Washington State, getting in the water involved a huge amount of courage, which was rewarded by hypothermia and death 15 minutes later. I still consider it something of a minor miracle that I can jump in the water here, swim around for an hour, and emerge alive!

Photographing those underwater creatures is always something of a challenge. My camera is, essentially, a little point-and-shoot and I have no special lighting. The water is often murky and it’s always moving, I’m moving, the fish are moving. So I’m happy when I get a decent shot.

I spotted this devil scorpionfish when I was following a different fish and saw this unusual-looking ‘rock.’ It’s typical scorpionfish behavior. They have such good camouflage, that they can sit on the bottom in the open and not be noticed. After a few moments, the scorpionfish moved off and, as it did so, flashed the colorful undersides of its pectoral fins. This ‘flash’ serves as a warning to would-be predators that an encounter is not likely to end well for the attacker as the scorpionfish has venomous spines.

As for the other photo, I have it on good authority that his mother loves him.

Keawaiki beach

Keawaiki Beach

I’m not a person who goes and spends a day at the beach, but I have been drawn to water and the ocean all my life. Possibly that’s why I’ve ended up in Hawaii, where the place is surrounded by it. And who wouldn’t be drawn to the water here?

This is Keawaiki Beach on the South Kohala coast. It’s a steep, black beach where sometimes the surf can roll in. But on a day like this one, it would be a fine place to swim. And on this particular day, not a soul was there, just me and my camera.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Place in the world.’

 

Whitetip reef shark encounter

Whitetip reef shark

I went for a snorkel a few days ago and saw a shark for the first time in a long while. Well, I did see one a couple of months ago at Two Step, but it was tucked into a small cave, having a nap. The recent one definitely wasn’t at rest.

I was fairly far out, near where rock and coral gives way to sand, and happened to be looking out towards the sand when the distinctive shape of a shark came zipping into view. It was headed my way at speed, which was an invigorating moment, I can tell you. However, I did have the presence of mind to snap a few photos, of which this is the best. Considering the state of the water and the shark gliding across the bottom, I was pleased with how well this turned out. I think it shows the infamous lines of the shark and something of its powerful, sinuous motion and I was glad to capture the eye and lines of the gills.

I suspect it had detected my presence and was checking me out. When it saw what I was, it decided I wasn’t too interesting, cruised by, and then disappeared in the opposite direction. I headed back in, taking frequent glances behind me to make sure the shark hadn’t changed its mind.

A couple of weeks ago, a couple of paddle-boarders were attacked by a tiger shark near Hualali Resort. Tigers sharks are responsible for almost all the shark attacks that happen around Hawaii. The shark I saw was a whitetip reef shark (notice the white tip on the dorsal fin – many have white edging on other fins, too), which is capable of mischief, but mostly doesn’t. This one was around 5 feet long, maybe a bit more. For scale, the yellow tang at bottom right of the photo is probably between 6 and 8 inches long.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge ‘Lines.’