Tag Archives: Turtles

The Numbers Game #44

Billowy clouds over the Alenuihāhā Channel between Maui and the Big Island, Hawaii — Clouds pile up over the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel.

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 165. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A rainy day at Upolu Airport, Hawaii — A plane parked at Upolu under ominous skies.

A giant trevally in the waters off Hawaii — A plane parked at Upolu under ominous skies.

A black saddlebags dragonfly — A Black Saddlebags Dragonfly.

The remains of a building at Kiholo, Hawaii — A Black Saddlebags Dragonfly.

A curious Green Turtle

A young green turtle catches the light as it swims by in the waters off Hawaii

I rarely post for Clare’s Share Your Desktop (here) for the simple reason that I rarely change my desktop image. But a couple of days ago, I was snorkeling off Honoka’ope Beach (commonly known as 49 Black Sand Beach) at Mauna Lani Resort and ran into this little fellow.

The turtle was probably around 18 inches long, head to tail, and in great condition, with a beautiful shell that glowed as it caught the light. Being a younger turtle, it was also quite curious, having not yet learned that people are pretty dull, clumsy in the water, and possibly dangerous. It stuck around for several minutes, coming quite close on a couple of occasions, before easing away, out of view.

I took half a dozen photos and any of them would have made a good desktop image, but the top one is the one that I’m currently running with.

Park yourself here

The coast at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach Park in Hawaii — Punaluu Black Sand Beach Park, on the southern coast of the island, not only has a black sand beach, but also turtles like the one in the photo. OK, it looks like a rock, but it’s there!

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘State and local parks.’ See more responses here.

Sifting through a ton of park photos, it was the island’s beach parks that came out on top. It’s possible to get in the water at all of these, though some require more caution than others.

The beach at Hapuna Beach State Park in Hawaii — Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area offers a long and wide sandy beach.

The coast at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park in Hawaii — Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area offers a long and wide sandy beach.

A view of View of Whittington Beach Park in Hawaii — Not all beach parks have beaches. Whittington Beach Park on the south end of the island is one of those though it’s still possible to get in the water.

The coast at Lapakahi State Historical Park in Hawaii — Not all beach parks have beaches. Whittington Beach Park on the south end of the island is one of those though it’s still possible to get in the water.

The Numbers Game #28

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 149. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A Scrawled Filefish swimming in the waters off Hawaii — Scrawled Filefish.

A Flowery Flounder swimming in the waters off Hawaii — Scrawled Filefish.

The Pride of America anchored off Kailua Kona.

Green Turtle surfacing

A green turtle surfaces of the North Kohala coast, Hawaii

A Green Turtle comes up for air off the North Kohala coast.

Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge.

The Numbers Game #17

A Pallid Ghost crab blends int o the beach in Hawaii — A Pallid Ghost Crab on the beach.

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. The top photo was one of these and I thought, I must have run this before, but I hadn’t. It turned out to be a photo I’d processed, but neglected to move from my originals folder. Without The Numbers Game, I would never have found this!

This week’s number is 138. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A green turtle swims in the waters off Hawaii — A Hawaiian Green Turtle swimming.

Crocodile Needlefish swim just below the surface in Hawaii — A Hawaiian Green Turtle swimming.

Dolphins and turtles, oh my

A pod of Spinner Dolphins swims through hazy water off the coast of Hawaii

Two Hawaiian Green Turtles circle in the waters off Hawaii

In the water yesterday, my wife and I had already seen a small turtle, when this pod of Spinner Dolphins suddenly appeared in the somewhat hazy water. Often, dolphin pods travel fast, but are spread out, with mothers and calves bringing up the rear. This one was moving slower, but tightly bunched. I reckon there were at least 40 or 50 in the pod, and in a few minutes they had all gone by, heading south.

A dolphin encounter is always a highlight of any swim, but conditions were so nice, we carried on across the bay. When we turned to head back in, I saw two turtles, almost directly below me, swimming around in a tight circle. When one headed away, the other followed and the circling resumed. I don’t know what they were up to, but they were still doing this routine when we left them.

Two Hawaiian Green Turtles in the waters off Hawaii

The Numbers Game #12

A green turtle is temporarily stranded on a rock. — A turtle on the rocks. See more photos here.

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 133. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.