One of the things I enjoy when snorkeling is watching the turbulence that occurs when swells encounter rocks in shallow water. The trick for this activity is to find a safe spot to observe it without getting caught up in it, and being slammed against the rock.
The humpback whales are back in force as we approach the middle of the whale watching season. I’ve been seeing them regularly on my walks along the coast. These two adults were making their way westward in no particular hurry.
When I go snorkeling, one of the first fish I’m almost guaranteed to see are needlefish. The often congregate in the shallows just below the surface of the water. I can often get very close to them before they scoot to one side or part in the middle as I go through.
These days, when I go snorkeling, it’s not unusual to encounter hazy water like this. 10 years ago this would have been unusual. Today, it’s closer to the norm. I don’t know why this is, but warmer water is likely one factor.
From a snorkeling perspective, I have to be a lot closer to fish to hope to get a decent photo of them.
One of the many things I like about chubs is how they catch the light as they cruise close to the surface.
When I’m snorkeling, I like to take photos looking back up to the surface. On this occasion, I was hoping to capture bubbles floating on the surface, but got this image instead. To me, it looks like a sunrise shot, possibly after a night on the town!
We have had a seemingly endless stream of swells rolling in from the west, west-northwest, northwest, and north. What they all have in common is that they make snorkeling miserable here. The water gets churned up, reducing visibility to near zero, and getting in and out can be an adventure.
A few days ago, there was a gap between the incoming swells, allowing the water to settle a little and visibility to improve. And, luckily, that was a day that a pod of Spinner Dolphins went by.
I had stopped swimming for a moment and popped my head up to look around when I saw fins arching through the water towards me. This pod of 20 or 30 dolphins was just passing through, but I was happy to snap a few photos, of which these were the best two.
The visibility still wasn’t great, but any dolphin encounter is a moment to be treasured.
The Blackstripe Coris is known as Hilu in Hawaii. According to legend, two gods who were brothers appeared as Hilus. One got caught and ended up on a grill, but the other took human form, rescued his brother, and returned him to the ocean. However, the stripes from the grill remained and can still be seen on the Hilu to this day.
