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Thursday,
November 29th, 2007
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Today was the day
after the green sea
turtle tagging (see 11/28
blog), an event
which ended in a
tumultuous rainstorm.
Because of the storm,
the surf was particularly
high today. Big Island
is not the top surfing
destination of the
Hawaii chain, but
on this day, the
surfers were out
taking advantage
of the swells.
Just at the mouth
of Keauhou Harbor,
there were some nice sets
coming in. This is
kind of unusual for
this location – or
at least I've never
seen it like this.
We stopped our boat
at the point where
the waves were coming
in to take some shots
of the surfers. There
was a guy and a girl
out there, and we
had a nice angle
on them. The guy
managed to stand
up 5 or 6 times,
while the girl, who
was probably a novice,
just got up once
while we were watching.
I wanted to get some
shots of the girl,
because in the stock
photo business, pictures
of women surfers
are kind of rare.
We watched the surfers
for about an hour
and finally left
the harbor....click
here to read more.
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Wednesday,
November 28th, 2007
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Between mechanical
problems with Masa's
boat and the unwillingness
of Kona's marine
life to cooperate,
I haven't managed
to get many compelling
photos lately.
Thankfully, an
interesting land
event took place
that filled the
gap – sea turtle
tagging at the
beach in Kaloko-Honokohau
National Historical
Park!
At SeaPics.com,
I'm in a good position
to hear about events
and happenings related
to the ocean and
marine life. My photographers,
who are out on the
water on a daily
basis, usually keep
me informed. On this
day, however, it
was my staff, Christine and Lynn,
who told me about
the sea turtle tagging.
They told me they
needed the morning
off to help further
the cause of green
sea turtle research.
And since this event
also provided a great
photo opportunity,
we all abandoned
the office for a
close-up look of
Big Island's honu
(Hawaiian for green
sea turtle).
Down at the beach
at Kaloko-Honokohau
National Park, near
the Honokohau ....click
here to read more. |
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Thursday,
November 9th, 2007
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We left the boat
launch at about
10:45 and headed
out to the FADs
(Fish Aggregation
Devices), as we
normally do, but
we hadn't even
left Keauhou Bay
when we came across
a huge baitball
of Akule or Bigeye
Scad, Selar
crumenophthalmus.
Masa jumped into
the water to get
some photos, as
shots of swirling
bait can be beautiful
in the right light.
He was in the water
for 10 minutes
or so, got some
ok pics (viz was
bad in the bay
as usual) and then
we continued on.
There was a pod
of long-snouted spinner
dolphins with us
for while, but they
seemed unwilling
to ride our wake,
like they often do.
No notable pics as
a result of their
standoffishness.
At one point, two large
Mahi Mahi, Coryphaena
hippurus, circled
our boat and checked
out Masa's lure. One
of them grabbed it
just underneath the
boat, and leaped 15
feet out of the water!
It's always exciting
when a mahi mahi takes
your lure and leaps
so high up - the very
behavior that led them
to be called dolphin
fish! That long, green
fish ended up....click
here to read more. |
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Thursday,
November 1st, 2007
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We went out earlier
than usual today
because we were
up at an ungodly
hour. I went in
to work at SeaPics.com
for a while before
going out. Amazingly,
my employee, Christine,
was already in
the office at 5:45
a.m. Yes folks,
I have some seriously
dedicated employees!
There weren't many
trailers down at
the marina, which
is usually a sign
that the fishing's
bad. No worries for
us, because when
the fishing's bad,
we're taking photos.
Likewise, when there's
nothing to photograph,
we're fishing, so
we're always occupied.
We did our usual
rounds of going out
to the FADs (Fish
Aggregation Devices),
but there wasn't
much happening. Masa
put out all kinds
of trolling lures,
but we had no luck.
Because we were out
earlier than usual,
we had a nice view
of Mt. Hualalai,
which is often clouded
over a little later
in the day. There
were no whales or
dolphins to photograph,
so we took some scenic
shots of the mountain....click
here to read more. |
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Thursday,
October 25th, 2007
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It's been two
weeks since my
last blog entry,
but only because
we had mechanical
problems. The starter
on Masa's boat
didn't work, so
we had to get it
repaired. Two weeks
confined to land;
hate when that
happens.
Today also started
out a bit iffy. We
were all gassed up
and down at the marina, ready
to rock 'n' roll,
when we realized
we'd left the ice
on the floor of Masa's
house. Raced back
for that, wondering
what else would go
wrong. As it turned
out, the rest of
the day was excellent,
if you can call a
day without catching
any fish excellent. What
we had instead was
the kind of photo
opportunities that
remind us why we
live in Kona. It
was also notable
for another reason,
too; it was the first
time on the water
for my new puppy,
Sugar. She's a Tibetan
Spaniel, and quite
possibly the cutest
dog in the world.
We'd get to see what
kind of sea legs
she had, and because
I have photos to
capture the moment,
so will you!
As we started late,
we decided to go
straight to C buoy
without trolling...click
here to read more. |
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Thursday,
October 4th, 2007
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We started out
today at VV buoy
where the current
was really ripping.
There wasn't much
going on there
fishing-wise, so
we concentrated
on photography.
We took some photos
of the buoy, which
was tilted over
diagonally by the
current. At SeaPics.com,
we sometimes get
photo requests
for ocean currents,
which is a tough
topic to illustrate.
Today, though,
we got some decent
shots of water
currents around
the buoy, along
with the brown
boobies resting
on it.
After hanging around
there for a bit,
we spotted an oceanic
whitetip shark approaching
the boat. Masa was
eager to get some
shots of this one,
so despite the current,
he jumped in at the
up current of the
buoy as the shark
stationed at the
down current. Predictably,
he drifted fast away
from the boat, buoy
and the shark without
getting off much
of a shot. I took
the boat down to
pick him up, and
we went back to the
up current of the
buoy to try again.
We ended up repeating
this exercise about
10 or 12 times until
Masa got physically
exhausted, trying
to get off a shot
of that shark...click
here to read more. |
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Thursday,
September 27th, 2007
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We got a late
start on this overcast
day, and headed
out to the VV FAD
(Fish Aggregation
Device) near Keauhou.
We checked out
what the other
boats were fishing
there, but it turned
out to only be
small aku (skipjack
tuna), not to our
liking. From there
we headed out to
C buoy, trolling
with 4 rods as
we went.
Three miles offshore
of Kealakekua Bay
(where the famous
Captain Cook met
his maker) we came
across a nice pod
of pilot whales heading
in the opposite direction.
This was not unusual,
as we often see dolphins,
beaked whales, pilot
whales and more in
this area. On this
day, however, we
knew the BBC was
filming on the Big
Island about oceanic
whitetip sharks,
which often accompany
pilot whales, so
we called our contact,
marine photographer
Doug Perrine, to
identify the whales'
location. No word
yet if we actually
aided the BBC effort.
We continued south
and had no luck trolling.
Then the ocean, which
had been a bit rough...click
here to read more. |
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