Surf rolls in as the sun dips toward the horizon.
Tag Archives: On The Coast
Monk seal calisthenics
This is I05 who was the subject one of my first posts on this blog. In that photo he was resting. Here we see him doing calisthenics. Ha, just kidding. This was actually a brief position adjustment between two lengthy spells of resting.
Monk seals, though few in number, often haul out to rest around the island. It’s important not to get too close while they do so. Besides being illegal, disturbing their resting periods can be stressful and adversely affect their health. Also, if they get used to humans being close by, it’s only a matter of time before there’s an encounter where someone gets bitten. This is likely to result in the animal having to be relocated to the uninhabited northwestern islands.
This was the first time I’ve seen I05 in almost 5 months so it was good to see him again and still in such good shape. The green tinge to his skin around his nose and flippers is algae and he will likely molt in the none too distant future. Molting is usually an annual occurrence, during which he’ll shed the top layer of his skin and fur.
I05 is the brother of Waimanu and was the uncle of Elua, the subject of this post. I’m not sure why, but as far as I know I05 was never given a name. I confess that I call him Igor, though I can’t remember why.
For more information about Hawaiian monk seals, go to www.pifsc.noaa.gov/hawaiian_monk_seal/ or www.marinemammalcenter.org/hawaii.
Signs: Flying shark attack?
Last September, a 13-foot tiger shark attacked a spear fisherman off Upolu Point in North Kohala. Luckily he had friends there and they got him to hospital. En route, he posted photos of his serious wounds on Facebook!
Usually, when there’s a shark attack, nearby beaches are closed. In this case, it’s a somewhat remote area with no beaches so there were no closures. But any time there’s an attack or even a reported sighting, these ‘Shark Sighted – Keep Out” signs are posted. What I particularly liked in this case was that the sign was attached to the fence at Upolu Airport (which is no more than a lightly-used landing strip). Was this something new from the sharks? An air attack?
In fairness, there’s really no better place to post such a sign and the dirt road that runs alongside the fence is the one most people use when heading toward the coast. But I like to imagine that some tourist came by and wondering whether some shark had flown in in this instance.
The sign blew away within a couple of days by which time I expect the shark was also many miles away. Or perhaps not. Dun dun dun dun …
For more information about the shark attack off Upolu Point, go to westhawaiitoday.com/news/local-news/shark-attacks-man-upolu-point.
Pololu cairns
The beach at Pololu is a steep 15 minute hike down from the end of the highway. It takes longer going back up. Someone had recently been busy building cairns down there.
Abstracts: Surface shimmers
Water shimmers over colorful rocks.
Better Days: Dead tree
It’s been a while since this tree saw leaves.
Black-crowned night heron
This is a juvenile black-crowned night heron which was standing in the shallows on the Kohala coast waiting for something to swim by or for me to go away – probably a bit of both.
Kiholo to Mano Point hike
The start of the trail below the parking area at Kiholo.
The house built for Loretta Lynn at Kiholo.
The anchialine pool at the south end of the first beach.
The trail winds down to the bench before Mano Point.
This hike is a not-too difficult, out and back, 4-mile round trip. Aside from wanting to check out this part of the coast, I also wanted to try out a new pair of shoes, more suited to hiking, rather than the old pair of walking shoes I’d been flogging my toes in recently.
The access road to the trailhead can be rough, but on this occasion had been recently graded, at least down to the private road near the bottom. The hike follows the coast south from the Kiholo parking lot. There’s camping here Friday through Sunday, but on this day it was much quieter – three people on the beach when I set out, not many more when I returned. The day was hot, as it usually is on this coast, and the vog was thick enough to chew on.
The hike starts out crossing the first of three black sand beaches. It’s part of Kiholo State Park Reserve, which means it’s a park for which the plans have not yet been finalized. Behind this first beach is a house built by country singer Loretta Lynn back in the 1980s. It’s boarded up now, but is tabbed to be some sort of visitor/cultural center in the new park. Check back in 10 years or so to see how things are going!
At the south end of the beach is an anchialine pool. After the pool, the trail winds up and over a’a lava to another smaller black sand beach. There’s another up and over to the third beach, Luahinewai, which is backed by a large private residence, overlooking another anchialine pool and surrounded by vegetation. The second and third beaches were deserted, the a’a lava lumpy, the new shoes doing a splendid job of cushioning my feet.
After this third beach the trail heads up onto the lava for a while and crosses inland from Nawaikulua Point until it reaches a lava bench backed by vegetation. The trail, which is marked by some rounded stones in the trail and white coral markers on the edges, ends here. Mano Point is reached by crossing the lava bench, which is not difficult but, as always, requires keeping an eye on the ocean. On this day the waves were thudding against the edge of the bench, sending spray into the air and some whitewater onto the bench.
It was a day for keeping toward the back of the bench. A couple of days earlier, when the surf was higher, it would have been a place to avoid altogether. On a calmer day one could walk along the edge of the bench. This is an area of tide pools, arches, and collapsed lava tubes that have become surging inlets.
Mano Point itself is not much of a point, but it is easy to identify because it’s where most of the vegetation ends. It’s also marked by a black-bordered, yellow sign (only the back of which is seen from the land), which I think means that no aquarium fish collection (a contentious issue here) is allowed south of the sign. The return is back the same way. I took a dip in the water at one of the beaches on the way back, but the surge was fierce and I ended up discovering black sand in unlikely places for a couple of days afterwards.
It’s not an earth-shaking hike, but enjoyable in its own way. There was a breeze on the coast as there usually is, some whales to be seen offshore, and my new hiking shoes performed admirably. That said, crossing behind the last beach en route to my truck, I felt a pricking in my foot and took off my shoe to find a kiawe thorn that had penetrated the sole. Not the fault of the shoe though, just an occupational hazard of hiking here.
For more information about the Kiholo to Mano Point hike, go to bigislandhikes.com/kiholo-to-mano-point.
The trail heads across a’a lava after the third beach.
The water surges into a small inlet, probably an old lava tube.
The sign at Mano Point which I think means ‘No Aquarium Fishing.’
Graham's Island 