Swimming with spinners

Spinner dolphins, that is.  This morning, with very calm ocean conditions, we kayaked across Kealakekua Bay and had the great fortune to encounter a pod of spinner dolphins that were deep inside the bay.  A band of snorkelers swam along side them, and so we jumped in as well.

View from the surface of the bay

Being in the presence of wild dolphins is great.  We certainly didn't touch them, although it looked like other people were trying to.  One woman was singing or talking to them.  Most of the dolphins were travelling with 2 or 3 others.  Watching them swim back and forth was like viewing a ballet.

As we paddled back from the Captain Cook monument, we observed a flotilla of kayaks surrounding the dolphins.  No rest for the dolphins today.

Wonderful way to spend the day.

Another day snorkeling

This morning, we headed to our favorite snorkeling beach.  We arrive before 9, before the crowd.  This is what it looks like at 10 AM.

One of the most distinctive and graceful fish in Hawaiian waters is the Moorish idol.  We see them often, but rarely succeed in taking photos of them that are in focus.  They reach 8 inches in length.

We also encountered a fish that blended in with it's environment: the helmet gurnard (also called the flying gurnard).  They are nearly camouflaged, and "walk" along the bottom.  However, I found a flash of bright blue in the pectoral fin.  This species reaches 15 inches in length.

Hard to see, it is heading to the upper right

Same fish, showing blue in its fin

Two fish du jour

We are quite familiar with all the butterflyfish in the Caribbean, but Hawaii has many more species.  Many of them are quite striking in appearance.  Yellow, black and white are their basic colors.  But who knew how many different ways fish could use these basics?

Today's photos are the lined butterflyfish and threadfin butterflyfish.  The lined butterflyfish is the largest local butterflyfish, reaching up to 12 inches.  The threadfin grows up to 8 inches.  The name threadfin is derived from the modified end of the dorsal fin, which trails the fin like a thread.

Lined butterflyfish

A pair of threadfin butterflyfish

Lunchtime visitor

As we were sitting on the lanai (deck), eating lunch, Bori spotted a mongoose.  I ran inside to grab a camera, and was able to get one shot of it, walking atop the lava-rock wall.

We have seen several others running across the road in rural areas, but this is our first mongoose in Kona.

A close-up of the mongoose

Fish from our morning snorkel

This morning, we snorkeled again and found some lovely fish that hung around long enough for photo opportunities.

The first fish is the Peacock Grouper.  It was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands from Moorea (Tahiti) in 1956.  It reminds us of a mash-up of a couple of Caribbean grouper species.  This one was about 14 inches long.

 

We also saw quite a few different surgeonfishes.  Below are two surgeonfish species.

This is the Convict Surgeonfish -- named for its stripes.  (6 or 7 inches long)

This is the Orangeband Surgeonfish, about 10 inches long.

Walking around Alii Drive

Alii Drive is the seaside road that runs through the heart of Kona.  At some points, ocean waves are breaking just west of the road, at others businesses and heritage sites line both sides of the road.

Today's heritage site is Hulihee Palace.

Much of the vegetation here is quite unlike anything one might see on the mainland.

Giant banyan tree

And, this lovely weathervane that features a spear-fisher and waves, couldn't be more perfect.

Back in the water

This morning, after the high surf subsided, we headed out to snorkel.  The conditions weren't fabulous, but the marine life didn't disappoint!

Bori

We saw lots of beautiful, brightly-colored fish that don't occur in the Caribbean, but they didn't hang around long enough for a great photo opportunity.

Pencil urchin

However, we were lucky enough to see two green turtles, and one was very calmly resting on the bottom, and didn't seem to mind us watching him.

Green turtle