Category Archives: In The Water

Two views of a beach at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park

These two photos were taken at different times, different years in fact, of one of the beaches at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. The park is just north of Kailua Kona, the largest population center on the west side of the island. It’s a park I visit at least two or three times a year because it’s easily accessible and is a good place to see turtles, on the beach or in the water, and also birds on ’Aimakapa Fishpond, on the inland side of the sand.

The top photo looks north (that little lump on the wet sand is a resting green turtle). The bottom photo looks south (those little white specks are people). The thing is, these two photos are how the beach looks every time I visit. A few people will walk along it, but most go to the more protected beach at the south end of the park. And this situation is similar to many on the Big Island. If you’re willing to walk a quarter or half mile from any beach nearest the parking lot, then peace and solitude is almost certainly yours.

For more information about Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, go to https://www.nps.gov/kaho/index.htm or bigislandhikes.com/kaloko-honokohau-park.

Bluefin trevally

A couple of bluefin trevallies seen while snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay. The area is a marine conservation district where fishing is prohibited. In general, I’ve found that fish in such districts are less skittish and more likely to approach snorkelers, so it’s a good place to get photos of some otherwise elusive fish.

Bluefin trevallies aren’t exactly elusive, but these two passed close by, unperturbed by my presence.

Great barracuda being cleaned

Great barracudas give me the willies, more so than sharks or most anything else in the ocean. There’s something about their appearance and how they hang motionless in the water that I find unnerving.

A little way south of my usual snorkeling spot, there’s a concentration of these fish that always rattles me as I swim through. Most of the barracudas I see are two feet long or less, but there a few among them that are much bigger than that. When I run into them, I’m leery about pointing my camera at them in case that upsets them in any way, because they don’t look like fish that would take kindly to being upset.

On this day, I was swimming with a friend when we came upon this very large great barracuda, just hanging in the water. Turned out it was being cleaned. The little blue and yellow fish above the head of the barracuda is a cleaner wrasse. These little fish set up store in different areas and clean mucus, dead tissue and parasites off other fish, which make regular visits to take advantage of this service.

Many fish being cleaned have an aura of great contentment while it’s going on, and this barracuda also looked quite relaxed, to such an extent that I lost my trepidation about it and got a bit closer than I normally would.

The wrasse is probably around 3 inches in length which would mean this barracuda is probably around 4 feet long.

Whitemouth moray eel in a tight spot

Whitemouth moray eels can squeeze into the tightest spots on the reef and are often seen with just the head sticking out. They’re easy to identify with their bright white mouths, which they’re constantly opening and closing. While this activity looks somewhat menacing, they’re actually forcing water over their gills in order to breathe. That’s not to say that, if you waggle your finger in the face of an eel, it won’t bite it off so, as with most creatures in the water, it’s best to keep at a reasonable distance and be respectful of them.

A senior spotted eagle ray

This spotted eagle ray is a regular visitor to one of the spots where I go snorkeling. It’s not the largest one I’ve seen but it is certainly bulky and has the biggest head I’ve ever seen on an eagle ray. It looks like an older ray which has been in the wars, with a number of scars and bits missing here and there.

The top photo shows the eagle ray headed my way. It curled up over the rocks and coral and then veered around and headed back out to deeper water. The middle photo gives a good view of the head as the ray prepares to use its large, duck-billed nose to dig into the sand in search of molluscs and other organisms that they feed on. The photo below shows the ray cruising a little way above the sea floor.

Peacock groupers

Peacock groupers are easily identified by their iridescent blue spots and, in larger specimens, lighter vertical bars toward the tail. They tend to be skittish fish, diving for cover when anything approaches. But these two were in an area where fishing is prohibited and I’ve noticed that the fish in these areas have figured out they don’t have to worry about people in the water (probably a big mistake).

Another trait of peacock groupers is that they will often hunt with eels and octopuses. That’s what these two were doing on this day. On the right of the photo, the tail of the eel can be seen sticking out from whatever cranny the eel was disappearing into.

But the thing I like best about this photo is the fish just above the head of the top peacock grouper. Not much can be seen of it except for two white areas that look like a mischievous grin. I suspect that these white spots are the bill of a large parrotfish, but I was never able to get enough of a look to be sure.