It’s always fun to see fish active just below the surface of the water. Needlefish live in this area, but schools of sergeants also gather there to feed. The fish with the darker stripes and yellow patch on the upper back is the Indo-Pacific Sergeant. It’s a relatively new to Hawaii having arrived around 1990. The fish with less distinct stripes is the Hawaiian Sergeant, an endemic species. Apparently, the two species have been interbreeding, producing a fish with the coloration of the Hawaiian Sergeant, but with the more pronounced stripes of the Indo-Pacific Sergeant.
Mauna Kea’s winter wonderland
The past few weeks have been very wet on the Big Island with moisture-laden systems sweeping through from the south as well as the usual northeast. As a result, both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa have received generous amounts of snow. This view is taken from the relative warmth of the Kohala coast.
Ruddy turnstones
Ruddy turnstones get their name from their red legs and their feeding habit of turning over rocks in search of invertebrates. This group was mostly resting and grooming near the water’s edge. In the foreground is a Pacific golden plover.
Morinda citrifolia
Morinda citrifolia is also known as Noni or Indian Mulberry. The flowers generally have 5 lobes, but this can vary, as this plant shows. The flowers emerge from what will become the fruit, which will end up white or yellowish.
The fruit is edible and used for medicinal purposes, but usually in a juiced form. There’s a good reason for this. As is noted on Wildlife of Hawaii’s plant page, “The ripe, white fruit has a nauseatingly bad smell, very much like fresh vomit mixed with rancid garbage. Avoid smelling it if you have a weak stomach.” Duly noted!
This plant was next to one of the Golden Ponds of Keawaiki.
Mourning gecko
I like how this mourning gecko echoes the rough, rusty metal surface it stands on. It’s growing a new tip to its tail having lost the original in some sort of encounter, probably with a gold dust day gecko or a house gecko, which are more aggressive.
For more information about geckos, go to geckoweb.org.
Growth in the lava
In May of 1969, a series of earthquakes opened a large fissure alongside Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This was the beginning of what is known as the Mauna Ulu eruption. For five years, lava poured forth in a series of eruptions. Chain of Craters Road, completed only a few years earlier, was buried for several miles. Landmarks along the road were destroyed or irrevocably altered. A swathe of forest disappeared in flame.
When the eruptions finally ceased, life soon began to reappear on the barren lava landscape. In this photo, vegetation has reclaimed a section of the original 1969 fissure. Roots are anchored in cool, moist cracks in the lava. The tree on the left is particularly striking. Having started out in a crack on a vertical face, it has reached up to the light and is going strong. I like to think it shows how resilient nature can be.
For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/. For more information about Kilauea Volcano and it’s eruptions, go to hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/main.html.
Better Days: Beach engine
An old engine lies half buried in the sand south of Waikoloa Beach Resort.
Saddleback butterflyfish
A saddleback butterflyfish cruises through coral heads. These colorful fish aren’t seen as often as many other kinds of butterflyfish so it’s always a treat to see one or, often, a pair of these striking fish.
Graham's Island 