Whitetip reef shark

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Something Scary.’ See more responses here.

Here’s a photo of a whitetip reef shark passing almost directly beneath me. In truth, these sharks aren’t especially scary since they’re more curious than dangerous, but the sinuous movement and serious chompers can send a shiver through anyone who encounters them in the water.

Signs: Cardboard only

For a good many years, the Big Island has had a fairly standard recycling program. Glass, cardboard, paper, aluminum and other metals, and many types of plastic were collected for recycling.

Last week, the plastic and paper part of that program was tossed into the trash. The reason, according to officials, is that the market for those kinds of materials has gone in the tank. China stopped buying those materials last year. Since then, other countries in that business have been overwhelmed and shut up shop.

But the economics of the program weren’t the only problem. A lot of those recyclable products couldn’t actually be recycled because they had so much trash mixed in with them they were essentially garbage. People didn’t pay attention to what they could and couldn’t recycle and didn’t put the appropriate, clean materials in the proper place. ‘Recycling’ used pizza boxes with bits of three cheese pizza stuck all over them didn’t help, and I’ve seen plenty of things like that being recycled.

What will happen now is that more stuff will end up in the trash and that’s still a problem. The landfill on the east side of the island closed this year and now all trash from that side is trucked to the west side landfill. At some point that will become full. And then what. It’s not a situation that’s likely to get better any time soon.

Windsurfer

For whatever reason, I don’t see a lot of windsurfers in the waters around the Big Island. This is a bit surprising as there’s lots of water and the wind blows with a good deal of enthusiasm. Perhaps it’s just that most people favor surfing or paddle boarding.

Whatever the reason, I thought I should get photos of this windsurfer working his way along the coast near Kawaihae, since it might be a while before I see the like again.

Posted in response to this week’s Friendly Friday challenge on the theme of ‘Moving.’ See more responses here.

Threadfin jack juvenile

I posted a photo of a threadfin jack juvenile back in August, in part to illustrate the fact that I hadn’t seen any this year, which was unusual. September came and went without sightings, so I’d pretty much given up the thought of seeing one when October rolled around. But on October 2, I got in the water and soon bumped into this little fellow.

I don’t know why the sighting was so late this year. Possibly the murkier water this summer has something to do with it. But it’s no clearer currently, which is why that day was the only sighting I’ve had. I know other people have seen it since so it’s still around. But even if I don’t get a second look at this fish, I’m glad to have seen this one at all. They’re not often seen, but they really are spectacular little fish and I appreciate every encounter with them.

Bench near Green Sands Beach

Most people going to Green Sands Beach, near South Point, hike in or pay for a local to transport them in one of a variety of dubious-looking trucks. Once there, people head down to the beach to swim or broil on the green sand.

Beyond the place where the trucks stop is a pu’u and a hike over this hill and down the other side takes one to this bench, which overlooks the bay, though not the beach itself. It’s a quiet spot unless the wind is howling, which it often is, but the view is lovely and it makes a great resting spot before either carrying on along the coast, or returning whence one came.

Black saddlebags skimmer dragonfly

I’d noticed this dragonfly returning to the same twig a few times so I positioned myself to take photos if it continued to do so. Luckily it did and I got a few shots before it took off for good.

The black saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata) gets its name from the distinctive markings on the wings. It’s found in most places in the U.S. and is one of those good bugs because both naiads and adults help control mosquitos by consuming their larvae.