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.
The Numbers Game #12
Tag Archives: Turtles
The Numbers Game #10
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 131.
You can see more responses here.
The Numbers Game #5
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into your computer’s search bar and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. I typed in a few numbers and up popped photos I’d forgotten about, so I thought this would be a fun way to feature some photos that ran a while ago, but warranted another airing.
This week’s number is 126. Ironically, for this first response, it turned out that three of these photos haven’t run before, but have been languishing in my archives.
You can see more responses here.
You gotta laugh
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Comics or Funny Pages (aka silly or funny photos).’ See more responses here.
These are photos that I’ve run before, but quite a while ago. They still make me smile and I hope they do the same for you.
Geckos are endlessly entertaining.
But they’re not the only ones.
Coming up for air
When I was snorkeling a couple of days ago, I came across this green turtle coming up for air. It took a breath and then curled down into deeper waters at a leisurely pace, before disappearing under a ledge.
A walk on the South Kohala Coast
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘The Great Outdoors.’ See more responses here.
Recently, I took a hike along the South Kohala Coast, starting out at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay in Waikoloa Resort, and heading south to Keawaiki Beach, before returning the same way. This is a hike I’ve done before, but not for some time.
ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay is often referred to as A Bay because it’s a tad easier to pronounce. It’s one of the more popular beaches on the island, but head south, around the corner from the main beach area, and the golden sands are largely deserted. Well, except for the odd green sea turtle taking a nap.
There are a few rustic structures behind the beach along here, but it’s a far cry from the resort developments less than a mile to the north. When the sands end, there’s a short stretch where high tides wash up against a wall of greenery. Hiking at those times, which I did, involves nimble footwork or getting your feet wet. I’m not nimble!
Beyond this point the coast becomes rocky lava, where flows from Mauna Loa have tumbled into the ocean in bygone days. The trail is mostly over a’a lava, which is irregular and rough. The trail itself is not hard to walk, but straying into the lava fields is another matter entirely.
The first marker on this part of the trail is the lone palm tree at Akahu Kaimu Bay. Just inland from this palm is a pool, which is mostly freshwater and deep enough to swim in. This is a welcome option on a hot day, but since it was mostly overcast with a nice onshore breeze, I didn’t take a dip this time.
The trail continues over the lava field to the next bay and it was here I got lost. The coast trail often passes over the lava rather than follow the coast around points and the only trail I could see appeared to be doing just that. But when I followed it for a while I saw that it continued inland. However, I could also see that where it headed was to the Golden Pools of Keawaiki, which was I planned on visiting anyway, so I carried on until I came to familiar ground. The golden pools owe their color to a unique algae that grows here. These are not pools for swimming in since that could alter the conditions and destroy the algae.
Heading back to the coast, the trail comes out at Pueo Bay where I found an abandoned kayak, not in great condition. Keawaiki beach, just beyond, is another bay marked by a sole palm tree, but this poor tree has been badly damaged by storms and is no longer much of a tree.
Heading back north, I passed the sole house on this part of the coast, just beyond Weliweli Point. I have yet to see anyone at this spot, though someone obviously maintains the property. I got back to the bay where I had strayed off the track and realized where I’d gone wrong. The coast trail zigzags up from the beach and is marked only by a couple of pieces of bleached coral, which don’t stand out much on a beach strewn with the same kinds of coral pieces.
This trail isn’t a great one for birds, but I did see a Great Frigatebird wheeling overhead, which is always nice. And though this coast appears unforgiving, there are hardy plants to be found including native Hau trees and swathes of Beach Naupaka.
By the time I got back to A Bay, the Lava Lava Beach Club was busy with dinner patrons, enjoying their meals at tables set up on the sand and close to the water.
Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.
Punalu’u Black Sand Beach Park
Punalu’u is one of the more popular places to visit on the Big Island. For one thing, it’s a black sand beach that’s easily accessible. It’s also a great place to see Green Turtles and sometimes Hawksbill Turtles. There’s picnic tables and restrooms, you can camp there, and it’s a beautiful stretch of coastline to wander along.
On my most recent visit, I was happy to see that the area where the turtles tend to rest has been more obviously identified with a rock wall and signs. This is part of the ongoing efforts to deter the ‘Let’s get a picture of little Billy riding the turtle’ crowd. Oh yes, they exist and, sadly, they’re nowhere near as endangered as the turtles. There is one turtle in this photo, but it looks like a rock.
Here’s a closer look.
And a close up (with a zoom lens), getting some much needed rest.
I really like Punalu’u, especially early in the day as this was. Later on, it can get very crowded.
A green turtle pops up for air
On a recent snorkel, I saw this headless creature a little ways off. I took me a few moments to realize that this was a green turtle getting a breath of air. When it dipped back below the surface, it kept coming towards me. I thought it might come really close, but it decided that it didn’t like what it saw and glided down to deeper water.
Graham's Island 