A breaking wave cascades down a colorful rock face on the coast.
Category Archives: Places
Rainbow Falls
Rainbow Falls are located in Wailuku River State Park, in Hilo. They get their name from the fact that, in the mornings, rainbows often form in the mist from the falls (above).
Center, someone left an offering, possibly to Hina, mother of the demigod Maui, who is said to have lived in the cave behind the falls.
And below, someone who has inadvertently walked past the 83,000 ‘Danger’ and ‘Warning’ signs to wander around at the top of the falls. Flash floods occur often and people die here every year.
Monk seals resting
I’m posting this photo in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Friend’ (see more responses here), though it would be equally suitable for next week’s ‘Lazy Days.’
Monk seals are solitary animals, the main exception being the six weeks or so a mother spends with her new pup, teaching it the tricks of the trade, before leaving it to fend for itself. But for a three month period in late 2016, these two monk seals spent a lot of time together.
The top seal is I05, a male, affectionately known as Igor. He’s a Big Island seal and appears to spend his time on the Kohala and Kona coast. The other is B00, a female, affectionately known as Boo. She was born in Kauai and had previously been seen on Molokai and Maui, but now appears to spend much of her time on the Kona coast. Whereas not too much had been known about B00, I05 was regularly seen and was a notorious loner. So his ongoing liaison was quite out of character.
They seemed very relaxed and content in each other’s company, and here are resting ashore, as monk seals do, before heading back into the water to feed.
Tenting for termites
No, it’s not the circus come to town. These tents are for a more macabre purpose, the termination of termites.
As in most warm climates, termites are a problem here. Houses, especially older ones, are easily colonized. Without treatment, the occupying termites will consume wood from the inside, leaving a thin membrane as protection. Infested wood might look fine, but a gentle push on the surface will go right through two or three layers of paint to the termites’ cavern inside.
Besides leaning against a wall and going right through, a prime indicator of termites is small mounds of little round pellets below a pinprick hole in a wall or piece of furniture. These are termite fecal pellets, which the worker termites clear out of the nest from time to time.
Another indicator of the presence of termites is to turn a light on and find a horde of them flying around the room. Around here, May is the prime time for this activity. These flying termites are fertile males and females, leaving the nest they grew up in to find a place of their own and start a new colony.
As unpleasant as it is to find a room full of flying termites, it’s even worse to wake up and see countertops littered with discarded wings, a sure sign that these fertile termites have moved in to a new spot.
So tenting for termites is common practice here. The structure is covered with nylon sheeting until it is completely sealed and then a fumigant is pumped in. The tent usually remains on overnight. After the tent is removed, the house has to sit empty a while for the gas to dissipate. It’s not wise to go back in too early or one could find oneself joining the termites. Typically it can be two or three days before a home can be reoccupied.
Tenting for termites is effective but it has downsides. It works for drywood termites, but not subterranean termites since they live outside the house and just dine inside. There are also environmental concerns about the process. And while fumigation works, there’s no guarantee that a new colony of termites won’t move in just as soon as the gas has cleared.
Better Days: I’d like a vowel please
Actually, it would take more than a vowel for me to figure out what was writ upon this old blockhouse wall.
Fish farm
Not far off the Kona coast, near the airport, one or more of these nets can often be seen. They’re the submersible net pens of a fish farm run by Blue Ocean Mariculture. The farm raises Almaco jack which it markets under the name Hawaiian Kanpachi.
In the wild, the fish is prone to ciguatera, a toxin that can cause diarrhea, vomiting, numbness, and other unpleasant symptoms. This is the reason almaco jacks aren’t fished commercially. But the farmed fish are free of this problem. I have mixed feelings about farmed fish, but this farm seems to be well regarded and is approved by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.
Part of my ambivalence may be down to the fact that, last year, one of the few resident monk seals living around the island became trapped in a pen and drowned. I’ve since heard that when work is being done on a pen, it should be raised so part is above the surface. That way, if something swims into a pen and can’t get out again, it can at least surface inside the pens to breathe. Whether that happened in this case, I can’t say. The official word is that mariculture projects in Hawaii are under review by the Army Corps of Engineers and NOAA.
Gecko on red bamboo
I was very taken by the colors when I saw this gold dust day gecko on a stem of red bamboo at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden near Hilo.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Wind turbines crank out the power
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge is ‘Drunk with .…’ I thought about a photo of my liquor cabinet, but settled instead for ‘Drunk with Power,’ a reasonable choice in these turbulent times.
Hawi Wind Farm began operations in 2006 and has 16 turbines churning out 10.56 MW. This power is supplied to Hawaii Electric Light Company, which runs the power grid on the island.
My interest in the wind farm is mostly visual. I like the patterns that the turbines make, and every once in a while the telescopes of Mauna Kea can be seen in the distance.
See more Sunday Stills responses here.
Graham's Island 