Following up on my recent shark encounter, a more serene sighting in the same general area, but on a different day.
I saw this green turtle gliding toward me and catching the light in a lovely way. Clumsy on land, turtles are a different animal in the water — graceful, effortless, and at ease in their environment.
A green turtle comes to the surface for air, looking mysterious and somewhat threatening.
I visited Kiholo Bay again recently. At the eastern end of the bay is Wainanali’i lagoon, a stretch of water tucked behind a long spit of land. This protected water would be a prime snorkeling spot except that the bay gets a lot of freshwater infusion. This makes the water cloudy and gives it a distinctive turquoise appearance.
While it’s hard to see much when in the water, from shore the milky, turquoise water has an otherworldly look. Fish and turtles seem to ripple and float against a backdrop of nothingness. It’s a great place to wander along the shore, seeing what’s lurking in the shallows, and watching to see what floats into view before drifting away again.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Out of This World.’
A close up of a green turtle flipper as it hauled its way through the sand, back toward the water.
Another post on the WordPress photo challenge theme of ‘serene.’
While waiting to board a boat to see the wonders of Hawaii’s ocean life, this green sea turtle obligingly drifted through the blue-green water alongside the quay. Green turtles generally appear to have an unflappable countenance, but the slightly surreal clear water adds a particular air of serenity I think.
A green turtle takes on a different appearance as it swims through the waters of Kiholo Bay. The original photo (above) already has an impressionistic look, but I experimented with a few effects and quite like the subtle difference of the posterized version below.
Another post on the theme of ‘Glow,’ this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
I saw this green turtle swimming in clear water while out walking. I like how the late afternoon light causes the turtle’s shell to glow in contrast to its cool, blue environment.
Returning from a long swim, I spotted this turtle cruising along beneath me. I turned to follow it, usually the cue for a turtle to glide away, leaving me in its wake. But this one circled around and went back and forth in the same area for a while.
At first I assumed it was a green turtle, which are most commonly seen around here, but I realized that this one looked a bit different. The bill seemed more pointed and the edge of its shell was serrated. I thought it might be a hawksbill turtle, which are seldom seen here.
When I got home and checked my book it confirmed that the turtle was a hawksbill, which is the first I’ve seen.
Graham's Island 