Naio (Myoporum sandwicense) used to grow in great abundance in Hawaii, but now is much less common. It has some similarities to true sandalwood and was passed off as the latter without much success, leading to it’s other names of false sandalwood or, less sympathetically, bastard sandalwood.
This small tree was found growing on the lower slopes of Mauna Kea.
Perhaps not the best of photos, but ones that marked a first for me. I am constantly reading about how this fish preys on that fish and that fish preys on this creature, but the only feeding I’d seen is various fish grazing on algae on the coral.
On this day, however, I noticed, a good way below me, this female cigar wrasse with a small fish in her mouth. In the photo above the poor creature has just been dropped in front of her momentarily. In the second photo, the fish is firmly held in the cigar wrasse’s jaws.
The prey looked like some kind of small damselfish, which is interesting because John Hoover notes that cigar wrasse “feed on a variety of invertebrates.” Also of interest is that I mostly see cigar wrasse swimming among shoals of yellow or convict tang. Perhaps I should give them the heads up about the danger in their midst.
In my attempts to identify what I see in the water, I use John P. Hoover’s book The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals. His website is hawaiisfishes.com.
The road to the Mauna Loa Observatory is a one-lane highway, currently in good condition, and chock full of ups and downs and bends. It’s a fun drive with wonderful views, but it’s one that demands attention lest one drifts onto the unforgiving lava on either side or plows into an oncoming vehicle.
This looks like a landscaper’s truck all loaded up and ready to go. Well, perhaps not that last bit.
A gold dust day gecko peers out from behind a flowerpot.
Kahuku is part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Its 116,000 acres was added to the park in 2003, an estate purchase of former ranch land. This purchase almost doubled the size of the park.
Not far from the southern tip of the Big Island, the entrance to Kahuku is about an hour’s drive from the main park entrance, but the two areas are contiguous, joined at the summit of Mauna Loa.
These photos are from a guided hike in Kahuku that I did a while back. The hike went through fairly dense old growth Hawaiian forest that had been spared because it was in a steep gully and thus not suitable for clearing for pasture. There was no real trail.
Currently this part of the park is closed because trees with Rapid ‘Ōhi’a Death (ROD) have been found in the lower part of the park and the goal is to prevent it spreading to other areas.
For more information on the Kahuku Unit of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/kahuku-hikes.htm or bigislandhawaiitravelguide.com/places/puu-o-kahuku-at-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park.html
The leaves of agave sisalana are used to produce sisal fiber, which is used in making ropes amongst other things. However, what draws attention are the tall flower stems reaching 15 or 20 feet into the air. Around here, strong winds often blow the stems over, temporarily blocking roads and driveways.
These are fourspot butterflyfish, so called because the two spots seen here on each of them are matched by two more on the other side.
In my attempts to identify what I see in the water, I use John P. Hoover’s book The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals. His website is hawaiisfishes.com.
Graham's Island 