Blue skies, blue ocean, and a smashed up abandoned car, not an unusual sight on the island, in part because it’s quite expensive to get rid of a car responsibly.
Better Days: Abandoned vehicle
Tag Archives: Kohala
A painted lady butterfly on a tree heliotrope
A painted lady butterfly feeds on the small blooms of a tree heliotrope. This particular tree heliotrope stand by itself on a small beach on the North Kohala coast. It’s a popular destination for a variety of butterflies and bugs.
Sunset and clouds
Looking down towards the South Kohala coast as the sun drops below a band of clouds, shortly before sunset.
A fisherman and his catch
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Surprise.’ See more responses here.
I see a lot of fishermen when I’m out walking and they undoubtedly catch fish, but I never see them doing so. I’m as good at getting photos of that moment as I am at catching fish myself.
When I first saw this fisherman he was reeling in an empty line, as per usual. I kept walking, but moments later I heard a cry, turned to look, and saw him winding away on his line. I nipped back to take photos, fully expecting it to be a false alarm – his line was snagged in the rocks or he’d hooked some debris. So I was surprised when he hauled this fish from the water. I don’t know what kind it was, but it was a decent size and probably destined to be that evening’s supper.
Cyclist and Maui
A cyclist rides along the North Kohala coast, with ʻAlenuihāhā Channel and Maui making a scenic backdrop.
Monk seal resting
When I first saw this monk seal on the North Kohala coast a couple of days ago, I thought it was IO5. He’s the seal I see most often in this part of the island. But as I got closer, I saw this one was a female. I took photos, including some of the red ID tag. I wasn’t sure if, at that distance, I’d be able to read it, but luckily I could make out ‘A2’ in a couple of photos. There was space after the ‘2’ as if a number had rubbed off, so I wondered if this was RA20, the monk seal who raised pups on a Kona beach in 2018 (here and here) and 2019 (here and here).
I sent the photos to the Big Island Hawaiian monk seal response network, which tracks the movements and welfare of the monk seals. They confirmed this was RA20 and was the first sighting of her since she was released from Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital after suffering from a bacterial infection. The hospital’s veterinarians think RA20 recently lost a pregnancy and that the infection may have caused, or resulted from, the loss.
The good news is that she certainly appeared healthy and in good shape when I saw her.
For more information about Hawaiian monk seals and Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital, go to www.marinemammalcenter.org/hawaii.
Signs: A top fellow
Every time I see this vegetable stand I’m moved to say, “We salute you, Stanley.” I’m easily amused.
Posted in response to Becky’s April Squares challenge theme of ‘Top.’ See more responses here.
Sunrise over Kohala
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Early.’ See more offerings here.
So here’s a sunrise over Kohala Mountain. Enough said.
Graham's Island 