Following up on yesterday’s against-the-odds photo of a bright-eye damselfish, here’s one of a goat standing on a rock. What are the chances of seeing that?
Bright-eye damselfish
The aptly-named bright-eye damselfish is a tiny fish around 1 to 2 inches long. Despite its small size it aggressively defends its territory, usually a nook or hollow in the rock. It’s not unusual to see it come charging out at some much larger fish that has strayed too close.
Given that these fish spend all their time in one small area, often just hovering in the water, it would seem a simple matter to get a photo, but no. When they hover, they’re constantly moving, almost vibrating. And then they shoot off in one direction or another.
I’ve taken many of photos of bright-eye damselfish and the majority of them turn out to be pictures of bits of rock or coral. Locating the tiny fish on my screen is no easy matter, keeping it there, harder still. When I do manage that, often the fish is a blur or just a tail fin heading out of shot. Thus, this photo is something of an against-the-odds triumph – an entire bright-eye damselfish reasonably in focus.
Firehose of lava at sunset
As the sun sinks slowly in the west, a firehose of lava from Kilauea Volcano gushes into the sea. More photos here. A good video of the firehose, since the cliff collapse, can be found here.
For more information about Kilauea Volcano and it current eruption, go to hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php.
Abstracts: Albizia tree and other foliage
A canopy of tropical foliage. On the left is a huge albizia saman or monkeypod tree.
Dragonfly silhouette
The lace-like wings of a dragonfly are silhouetted as it rests on a line.
Pink ginger and joey palm
A pink ginger flower grows up between the boldly-ribbed leaves of a joey palm at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Going to the flow
I posted here about the current flow from Kilauea Volcano entering the sea, in a dramatic, firehose-like outpouring. In that post, I mentioned that the day after my visit, a cliff collapse caused the firehose to disappear from view. Things have settled down again and the firehose is once more visible, though another large crack not far back from the cliff is expected to cause another collapse soon.
From the Kalapana side, it’s about four miles to the viewing area and a thriving trade in bike rentals has sprung up. When I was down that way last July there were a few bikes available for rent. Now there are maybe 200 or 300 available from a large number of vendors in the parking lot. At the viewing area, bikes were piled alongside the road, and locked in clumps.
I preferred to walk, seeing the towering column of smoke and steam getting gradually larger on the way out, and enjoying a star-studded night sky on my return.
For more information about Kilauea Volcano and it current eruption, go to hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php.
Oval butterflyfish
A brightly-colored oval butterflyfish grazes on polyps of living coral head. Since this is almost the only thing they eat, it makes them unsuitable for keeping in home aquariums.
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.
