I saw these two Cushion Stars on the beach in Kawaihae Harbor. Cushion Stars come in a variety of shapes and colors.
Posted for Becky’s Squares: Geometric. See more responses here.
Pentagons on the beach
Tag Archives: On The Coast
The Numbers Game #55
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 176. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Humpback Whale encounter
Yesterday, driving into Lapakahi Historical Park to go snorkeling, my wife and I saw a Humpback Whale, close offshore, doing multiple tail slaps. After we parked the car and headed towards down to the shore, the whale was still slapping its tail. By the time we had our gear on and ready to swim, it looked like the whale was done and heading south.
But, as we got in the water, I saw the whale heading north. We swam out, without any thought of seeing the whale. Chances were it would dive and disappear, or move on, or turn around again. But once out toward the edge of the reef, we realized the whale was hanging around and even nudging towards the shore. By this time it was doing fin slaps.
We had never been this close to a whale in the water and the sight of the huge fin reaching up and then slapping the water with a loud thwack was impressive. As we watched, the fins got larger. I dipped my head underwater and could make out the hazy shape of the whale, the first time I’ve ever seen one in the water. Eventually, the whale came into full view and paralleled our course for a few minutes before it eased away, though it remained quite close to shore.
The whole encounter was deeply moving, an end of year gift for us and another swimmer who was there. During that swim, we also saw three reef sharks and later, a pod of dolphins. It says something that those encounters, normally the highlight of any swim, felt anticlimactic!
Looking back at 2024 – Part 1
Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and next week is ‘Your 2024 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2024, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. This week’s post is for January through June. See the rest of the year next week.
They’re back
The Humpback Whale season here has been underway for a few weeks, but I hadn’t seen many until a few days ago. Then, on one of my coast walks, I saw half a dozen or more.
This whale was in the company of another one, which had dived just before this. I like the curve of the tail and how the water drains off it, just before it’s full submerged.
The Numbers Game #53
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 174. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Railway remains
Mahukona was the terminus for the railway which served the sugar plantations of North Kohala from the 1880s until its closure in 1945. There was no proper dock at Mahukona, so ships anchored offshore and the sugar was boated out to them.
There are quite a few relics from that time at Mahukona, including a terminus building. The area in this photo was likely a place where railway engine and equipment maintenance took place.
For more information about the Kohala sugar railroad, go to https://coffeetimes.com/blogs/history-culture/sugar-and-steam-in-kohala
Wandering Tattler
I saw this Wandering Tattler on the rocks at Upolu. It was a very windy day and the bird was not keen to move, so I hunkered down and got ready to photograph it when it finally took flight. As might be expected, the bird did not cooperate, and it wasn’t until I moved that it took to the air and disappeared downwind.
Graham's Island 