Category Archives: In The Water

The Numbers Game #19

A Helicopter taking off from a ranch on Kohala Mountain, Hawaii
The photo number isn’t 140, but this still works. Watch out for that tub!
A Striped Lynx spider in Hawaii
An itsy bitsy, teeny weeny Striped Lynx Spider.

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 140. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

An endangered Palila, a bird found only on the Big Island, Hawaii.
Rainbow off North Kohala
Rainbow over North Kohala.
Little fish and Padina japonica seaweed in a tide pool in Hawaii
Little fish and Padina japonica seaweed in a tide pool.
A fireweed control moth (Secusio extensa).
A Sunrise over Kohala Mountains Hawaii
Sunrise over North Kohala.

Monk seal on a black sand beach

A Hawaiian monk seal on the beach at Punuluu Beach Park, Hawaii
Monk seals often come ashore during the day to rest.

I was down at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach Park with my brother, and we were watching a turtle resting on the beach, in an area enclosed by a low rock wall. I told him that most turtles hauled out here, but they sometimes came ashore on other parts of the beach, and I pointed to a dark lump, surrounded by cones, some distance away.

Looking at it, I thought, that’s a big turtle! So I zoomed in with my camera and saw it was actually a monk seal. We hot-footed around and I took these photos, which I later sent in to the Marine Mammal Center, which keeps track of monk seals.

A Hawaiian monk seal on the beach at Punuluu Beach Park, Hawaii
This monk seal looked in good condition, with no visible wounds. The green around the face and flippers is algae and is an indication the seal might molt soon, which they do annually.

They responded to let me know the seal was ‘Imikai, a daughter of RB00, who is also the mother of the last seal I saw (here). ‘Imikai was born on Lānaʻi in 2018 and has had two pups of her own. Apparently, she came to the Big Island in 2023 and has been seen mostly around the southern parts of the island.

A Hawaiian monk seal on the beach at Punuluu Beach Park, Hawaii
Tags in the tail flippers are used to identify the monk seals.

The Numbers Game #18

Strong winds create whitecaps in Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii
Strong winds whip up whitecaps in Kawaihae harbor.

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 139. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Black-crowned Night Heron snaffles a Tilapia. Original post here.
A beekeeper removes a swarm of bees nesting in a wall
Bees and their honeycomb inside the wall of a house. Original story here.
A firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
The firehose of lava at Kilauea Volcano in 2017.
Hawaiian Stilts flying in Hawaii
Hawaiian Stilts in flight.
A pair of Northern Pintails on a pond in Hawaii
There’s always one who’s got to get your attention, as evidenced by these Northern Pintails.

The Numbers Game #17

A Pallid Ghost crab blends int o the beach in Hawaii
A Pallid Ghost Crab on the beach.

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. The top photo was one of these and I thought, I must have run this before, but I hadn’t. It turned out to be a photo I’d processed, but neglected to move from my originals folder. Without The Numbers Game, I would never have found this!

This week’s number is 138. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A green turtle swims in the waters off Hawaii
A Hawaiian Green Turtle swimming.
Crocodile Needlefish swim just below the surface in Hawaii
Two Crocodile Needlefishes cruise just below the surface.
Bentley Walker competes in the 2017 Ironman World Championship.
Ironman is hard work …
Bike pedals at 2017 Ironman World Championship.
… but colorful.

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.