Day 7 - Snorkeling
Yes! I finally got an underwater camera. It was one of those disposable 800 speed ones, but hey, it was free. We headed south to Poipu and while the water didn't have quite the visibility we'd seen on previous days, it was probably the best place we snorkeled. And we did see a monk seal while we were there! After Poipu, we headed up north to Wishing Well and ate more shave ice than we probably should have, but it was SO GOOD. Then we headed to Anini beach to finish off the day. Anini was strange as it seemed rather like a desert underwater with few schools of fish. We may have just missed the good time or went to the wrong part of the beach. We'll have to do more research next time.
All these pictures were taken at Poipu beach. Check out the map if you wanna see the areas I'm talking about.
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I'm still looking for the names of all the fish we saw. This appears to be
a Christmas Wrasse, called 'Awela in Hawaii, Ryugu-bera by scientists. We saw
a number of these at Kee beach as well as Poipu. We didn't see any at
Anini or Lydgate.
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This is a pair of Moa or spotted trunkfish (Ostracion meleagris). These
were common wherever we went snorkeling. They were often found around the
reefs. Small and cute.
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Like all these pictures, this was taken at Poipu. You can see the large
number of fish that were around. But I have to admit, this was caused by
someone next to me feeding the fish. While not prohibited, it has been
lately frowned upon since it disturbs the ecological balance. I'd have to
guess that by this point, most of the fish are used to it, though.
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One of the prettier fish in my opinion, the Moorish Idol or Kihikihi
(Zanclus cornutus) was rather abundant at Poipu. I believe we saw a number
of them at Kee beach as well. The charm I got for my charm bracelet was of
a moorish idol.
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The state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a, or easier, the Hawaiian Reef
Triggerfish (Rhinecanthus rectangulus). These were also abundant at Kee
and Poipu. Very pretty fish.
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I believe this is a Many Bar Goatfish or Moano (Parupeneus multifasciatus).
I think we only saw this guy at Poipu.
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A rather blurry shot of a Bluestripe Butterflyfish, or kikakapu
(Chaetodon fremblii), we saw these everywhere we went.
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A Bluespine Unicornfish or kala (Naso unicornis) swims by. These things are
LARGE, almost 2 feet long. I only saw these at Kee and Poipu.
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Convict Tangs or Manini (Acanthurus triostegus) are extremely common. We
saw them at Kee, Lydgate and Poipu and probably even a couple at Anini.
These are also pretty large, getting to be over a foot long.
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The Orangespine Unicornfish or kala (Naso lituratus) seemed a bit more
rare. We only saw a few of these at Poipu.
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A school of Ringtail Surgeonfish or Puala (Acanthurus blochii) swim past.
These were the first fish I saw snorkeling at Lydgate. We saw them at Poipu
as well. Also pretty large, they can get up to 2 feet.
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A couple of Racoon Butterflyfish or kikakapu (Chaetodon lunula) enjoy lunch
in front of some Convict Tangs.
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And here are a couple of Threadfin Butterflyfish or kikakapu (Chaetodon auriga)
feed on the reef rocks.
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So here's the story. I saved one picture at the end of swimming around
Poipu because I really wanted a picture of a sea turtle. We didn't see one
but we thought chances were high we'd see on at Anini (we'd heard tales of
other snorkelers seeing them there). I told Mischa and Scott that if I took
the last picture on the camera, we'd be sure to see a sea turtle. They laughed
and I took a picture of Scott. Well, folks, you'll be happy to know that we
did INDEED see a sea turtle at Anini. It was one of the few things we DID
see there. We were out pretty far and we just looked over and there it was.
Beautiful creatures. It glided past us and out to even deeper water while we
stared in awe.
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All photos copyright Anne Sullivan