(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Daily Bucket: The Amazing Underwater World of Hawaii [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-17 I don’t know about you, but after watching the news 24-7 for the past week, I feel like I have a hangover. It’s time for a nature break! Ever since we started visiting Hawaii back in the 90’s and discovered the whole other world that exists underwater, oscarsdad and I have become addicted to underwater photography. It’s quite the challenge: not only do you have to find the fish, but you have to have a decent underwater camera, good weather and water conditions, and especially good light. Water interferes significantly with light, making it hard to take pictures at any distance, hard to focus, etc. In addition, in case you’ve never noticed, fish move around a lot! Not only do the fish move, but you move too as the waves are push you around in haphazard directions . And plus, fish can look completely differently depending on which angle you see them from, and how exactly the light is hitting them. The following pictures are mostly from my own modest collection. We don’t have a very expensive camera, but our Nikon Coolpix AW120 has been well worth the $400 we paid for it about 15 years ago. They haven’t been extensively tinkered with, only because our software is not up to date. What you see is what you get! (Also, for some reason I was unable to format everything correctly, would appreciate advice from the crowd!) Most of the coolest creatures I’ve seen have actually been at the reef right off of downtown Kona where I swim most mornings. Black Triggerfish These guys are pretty common on the reef and might look boring at first, but they’re actually so cool! When they are mad (at you or another Black Triggerfish), a maze-like pattern of bright blue lines appears on their forehead. Each fish has an individual maze pattern. When they approach a cleaning station (see below) they’ll light up their mazes to attract the cleaner wrasses. Sometimes I’ll see them swarming in areas where all of them have their mazes lighted not just on their foreheads but all over their bodies—maybe a mating ritual? Anyway, Black Triggerfish are a lot more interesting than they appear at first glance! Yellowtail Coris. This one of the fishes that looks COMPLETELY different as a juvenlile (see the picture below that looks kind of like a clownfish, that’s the juvenile!). It’s simply breathtaking in person—iridescent colors and a body that looks like a galaxy of stars. They range from about 6in to 18 inches like this one. They’re pretty common at most snorkeling spots! Hinalea ‘akilolo or Yellowtail Coris Spotted Eagle Ray Eagle Rays are among the craziest creatures in this other world and a rare and special sight. Unlike the more familiar Manta Ray, they have weird almost mammal-like heads and faces. They are about 2 feet across with long tails about 4 feet long. They “fly” in the water, searching in the sandy bottom for yummy crustaceans. This one was kind of interested in what I was doing and allowed me to follow it for quite awhile! Look carefully and you can see the very long thin tail: Cleaner Wrasse One of the most amazing sights in underwater Hawaii are the the cleaning stations. Two Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasses will set up shop in a nice part of the reef, and other fishes will come by to get small parasites cleaned off of their skin by the beacon-like wrasses (cleaner wrasses in other places are a lot less pretty!). They’re important to the health of the reef as they keep the other fish healthy which keeps the coral healthy in a nice big circle of friendship. Bluefin Trevally These guys often freak me out when I’m swimming because they are big (up to 30 in), swim really fast, and dart up behind me when I’m least expecting it. They are predators but not dangerous to people. Their flourescent blue stripes are unreal! Hawaiian Grouper (NOT MY PIC) A handful of the coolest creatures I’ve seen underwater I of course encountered when I didn’t have my camera on me. I saw and later identified this grouper, learning that it really shouldn’t have been where I saw it! It was HUGE (6 feet long maybe and several hundred pounds) and was clearly curious about me. Even though it was pretty far away I got freaked out and left (big things underwater tend to scare me). Only later on did I appreciate what a cool encounter that was and how lucky I was to see one. Flying Gurnard (NOT MY PIC) Another was a Flying Gurnard which rivals even the funkiest alien creatures human storytellers can come up with. They have collapsible “wings” which they can spread out to “fly” across the ocean bottom or fold in. Honu or Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle The Honu is Hawaii’s only remaining indigenous reptile and is endangered. They are not uncommon but are always a heartwarming sight. I got this picture from about 30 feet away but I’ve also been surprised to find them right next to me in shallow water! Hawaiians know them as a symbol of longevity and endurance, and they are considered a sacred guardian spirit. Dolphins I’m pretty much a fanatic of people leaving all sea creatures alone—whales, turtles, and also dolphins. I’m always the one running away from the cool creatures instead of towards them! However during the pandemic dolphins started frequenting some popular snorkel spots and these guys almost swam right into me. If you haven’t noticed, they swim a lot faster than us, so I was unable to get out of the way! That’s how I got this great picture. Probably the dolphins were “sleeping,” which they do while swimming. Butterflyfishes There are so many gorgeous kinds of butterflyfish here it’s very hard to choose, but the Reticulated Butterflyfish and the Saddleback Butterflyfish are two of my favorites—possibly because I don’t see them that often. Nudibranch In all the hours I’ve spent snorkeling, I’ve only ever seen ONE nudibranch. It looked like a flying omelet. Nudibranchs are one of the most amazing animals on this planet, and if you don’t know much about them, I strongly encourage you to watch ZeFrank’s “True Facts About the Nudibranch.” And if you haven’t yet discovered the True Facts series, I encourage you to check it out and make your life 5x more awesome. Whitetip Reef Shark I’ve seen sharks about three times while snorkeling here but this was by far the closest encounter—about 20 feet away. Fortunately for me I was so preoccupied trying to get the shot I forgot to freak out! Whitetips are the least dangerous kind of shark we have here, and also the most common. This one wasn’t at all interested in me, just doing his thing. It was about 5 feet long. Sharks in Hawaiian culture were/are seen as incarnations of family members, and important apex predators in the cycle of life. The Hawaiian reef system is under threat from many factors, including, but not limited to: 1) People using sunscreen. Chemicals in most sunscreens can smother the coral creatures. If you visit, please either use truly reef safe sunscreen (just the label “reef safe” is unfortunately not enough)—or even better, go without! Stay in the shade, use an umbrella, and use a rashguard or t-shirt when you’re in the water. It’s easy and a whole lot cheaper. I’m personally of the opinion that preserving this amazing world is more important than a sunburn or two. 2) Warming oceans. Of course. Most corals do not thrive in warmer temperatures. There are efforts afoot to identify and cultivate corals that are more resistant to warming oceans. 3) Construction and land-clearing activity. When we remove trees from the landscape, water that rushes downhill after storms and rain washes much more detritus into the water, choking the coral. Hawaii is slowly moving towards being more aware of this issue, and I don’t doubt that they will take steps to limit clear-cutting near the shore and other limitations on human activity. People are pretty environmentally conscious here, given Hawaiian culture which held the environment and its non-human inhabitants like the honu to be sacred. In Hawaiian culture, the relationships between plant, animal, elements and humans are apparent. The concept ‘we are all related’ is more than a mere statement, it’s a state of being. I certainly know that I feel a spiritual sense of awe when I’m swimming surrounded by gorgeous coral landscape and unbelieveable sea creatures. Thanks for reading! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/17/2175455/-Daily-Bucket-The-Amazing-Underwater-World-of-Hawaii Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/