The ohia flower is the official flower of the Big Island. It’s an appropriate choice for the volcanically active island since the ohia is one of the first plants to get a foothold in lava flows. When the bright red flowers are in bloom they give a splash of color to the otherwise black lava flows.
An assortment of power lines crisscross beneath fluffy clouds and a deep blue sky.
It’s been wet here lately and, when conditions are right, that translates into snowfall on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Conditions weren’t great during a recent swim. Their were ocean swells and an onshore wind made the water choppy. The visibility was only fair, with a lot of coral polyps, the little dots in the photo. But then, literally out of the blue, I saw this crowned or crown jellyfish (Cephea cephea).
There followed a protracted dance where I tried to get close enough to the jellyfish to take a photo, without getting close enough to be stung (though my marine invertebrates book notes ‘The author has handled it with no ill effects.’). This wasn’t easy given the state of the water. The jellyfish just eased up and down quite smoothly, but I was swooshing back and forth with the water. So I’d get myself into a decent position, ready to take a photo, and a swell would propel me in the jellyfish’s direction prompting me to churn the water and head away.
The photos weren’t great because of this toing and froing and the murky water. This is the best of them, which I quite like as it captures the luminosity of the jellyfish as well as showing various parts – the crown with its arms on the top, the tentacles below.
A little later I saw another, smaller one of these. Normally, crowned jellyfish are found in deeper water, but sometimes they’re driven inshore by swells, as I think these two were.
Season’s greetings to everyone and I hope, like this juvenile black-crowned night heron, that you get what you’re hoping for.
My take on this is that the horses were whispering about Christmas gifts and someone heard his name mentioned.
One of the features at Pana’ewa Rainforest Zoo is the variety of fun benches around the grounds. Here are a couple of them. I imagine sitting on the one below would give a few people I know the willies.
For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.
A northern cardinal stands over the remains of a mango, chewed over by one of the wild pigs, no doubt.
