Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and last week is ‘Your 2024 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As before, 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. Last week, I posted favorites from January through June (here). This week, it’s July through December.
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!
The top photo shows a view of Hualalai under cloudy skies, taken from the water yesterday morning.
The second photo shows pretty much the same view, taken on Christmas Day morning. What do you mean, where did it go? It was actually a less cloudy day. The big difference was that the wind was blowing from the southeast, driving vog from the latest eruption of Kilauea in this direction. Vog is volcanic smog and when it’s this thick, it can be quite acrid and you can taste it! It makes life miserable, especially for those with any kind of respiratory ailments.
The vog was bad for two days before the trade winds returned and blew the vog away from this part of the island, allowing the view in the top photo.
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.
The Blackspot Sergeant is a solitary damselfish which lives near the surface in shallow waters. They’re fairly common around here, but quite shy, so tricky to photograph. Coloration can vary, but the black spot above the base of the tail is ever present, hence the name.
This month’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Metallic.’ See more responses here.
The top photo shows a Metallic Skink (Lampropholis delicata), which is also known as Delicate Skink, Garden Skink, Rainbow Skink, and less-flatteringly, Plague Skink. This one was crossing a road, luckily a lightly-traveled one.
The second photo is an orchid with the catchy name of Rhyncholaeliocattleya Shingfong Gold Gem ‘Golden Gem.’
The third photo is shoal of small, silvery fish, which I think are the aptly named Hawaiian Silversides.
One of the perks of snorkeling here is that there are often rainbows to be seen, such as this one just north of Lapakahi.
Recent swells stirred up the water so visibility in the water wasn’t great. Instead, I focused upward to where bubbles and debris floated on the surface, yielding some interesting images.
Graham's Island 