Category Archives: In The Water

It was a whale of a time

A Humpback Whale emerges from the waters off Hawaii
A Humpback Whale slaps its tail in the waters off Hawaii

The Humpback Whale season is drawing to a close. This past week or so, I’ve seen the odd one here or there, but that’s it. Before that, we’ve enjoyed a prolific season with lots of whales and lots of activity from them. Alas, none of those things translated into the kind of whale photos I long to capture, but it was, as always, a pleasure to see them. Not just to see them actually. This year, while snorkeling, I heard more whale singing than I have in several years.

Now, they’re heading to their Alaskan feeding grounds. For the calves, this is a perilous journey. Collisions with boats and entanglement in drifting fishing gear is a danger for all whales, but especially juveniles. Then there are predators, such as Orca Whales, which prey on the calves. But those that make it are part of a growing population of Humpbacks, as they rebound from their perilously low numbers before protections were introduced.

The Numbers Game #13

An A'ama Crab skitters through a field of Helmet Urchins in Hawaii
An A’ama crab skitters through a field of Helmet Urchins.
The blooms of a yucca plant.
A Yucca plant in full flower.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 134. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A mural painted on the side of Hawi Post Office.
A Ruddy Turnstone watches from a rock in Hawaii
A Ruddy Turnstone watching.
A Pallid Ghost Crab waits by the entrance ot its burrow.
A Pallid Ghost Crab getting ready to disappear into its burrow.
The bench overlooking Honokane Nui Valley.

Dolphins and turtles, oh my

A pod of Spinner Dolphins swims through hazy water off the coast of Hawaii
Two Hawaiian Green Turtles circle in the waters off Hawaii

In the water yesterday, my wife and I had already seen a small turtle, when this pod of Spinner Dolphins suddenly appeared in the somewhat hazy water. Often, dolphin pods travel fast, but are spread out, with mothers and calves bringing up the rear. This one was moving slower, but tightly bunched. I reckon there were at least 40 or 50 in the pod, and in a few minutes they had all gone by, heading south.

A dolphin encounter is always a highlight of any swim, but conditions were so nice, we carried on across the bay. When we turned to head back in, I saw two turtles, almost directly below me, swimming around in a tight circle. When one headed away, the other followed and the circling resumed. I don’t know what they were up to, but they were still doing this routine when we left them.

Two Hawaiian Green Turtles in the waters off Hawaii

The Numbers Game #12

A green turtle is temporarily stranded on a rock.
A turtle on the rocks. See more photos here.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 133. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Red-billed Leiothrix sings on a branch
A Red-billed-Leiothrix calls out.
A wild pig that has been eating fallen mangoes
A wild pig snacking on mangoes.
A cow chats with two cattle egrets.
A cow in conversation with a pair of cattle egrets.
The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa‘afaite off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.
The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa’afaite off Mahukona.
A surface lava flow on Napau trail.
An Ohia tree toughing it out in the lava on the Napau Trail.
The old Wo On Store in North Kohala.
The old Wo On Store at Halawa.
Bougainvillea flowers in bloom
A Bougainvillea in a neighbor’s garden.