La Perouse

I had a day off on monday and went hiking/snorkeling with one of the other interns and two of the participants (volunteers who pay to come live and work with us for 2 weeks). Along La Perouse bay runs a lava field that formed in 1790 during the last volcanic eruption on the island. The whole area is part of the Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Area Reserve. There should be an accent mark on the first "e" in Perouse, but i'm too lazy to open up the character map. So you hike through the lave field to access a series of coves and inland ponds. Some of the ponds have incredible snorkeling. The last one you reach is known as the Aquarium because of the sheer number of fish species found there. Unfortunately is was a rather blustery day (I learned that word from (Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day") so the visibility in the water was so great but it was still incredible. I hope to return on a calmer day and with an underwater camera.

So we started by driving by the sources of the lava field. You can actually see how the lava flowed out from the hills.
This is us: Me, Sue, John, and Catherine the other intern (she's Scottish)


As you start down the trail, initially you're walking on sand where the old beach used to be before the lave flow extended the shoreline and cut it off from the water. So we hiked along the lava. It's over 200yrs old but still incredible sharp so I took extra care not to fall.

We passed several beautiful coves some sheltered from the bay others not so much.




We also passed some "inland" pools which were still technically connected to the ocean. This one is called Golden Pool and was easily the most beautiful. These were anchialine ponds which means that while the were separated from the ocean, salt water still seeped into the pond through the porous lava rock mixing with the fresh water making a brackish pond. This type of pond is pretty much only found on Hawaii and contain some unique species such as a type of shrimp. Hence, no swimming in Golden Pool.

Those hills behind the Golden Pool are what remain of the vents that spewed forth lava in 1790. We snorkeled in some of the coves along the way, and they were incredibly fun to explore. But nothing compared to our goal.



Finally, we reached our target, The Aquarium.

Despite what was considered bad visibility for the area, I still saw tons of fish, some like the yellow tangs you could even see through the surface.

I was happy. Sometime being a tourist for a day is awesome.

After snorkeling in the aquarium we headed back to the car. We were greeted by a surprise guest, a rare sight on Maui where most bird populations were nearly wiped out by invasive rats and mongoose. He even took the time to take a peak in the rear-view mirror before flying away.

After a delicious lunch of fish tacos, with mahi-mahi from a nearby stand and some shave ice, we headed to our next destination, Ho'okipa Beach.

Ho'okipa Beach is famous for its surfing, windsurfing, and kite-surfing. However on a day with 20+ knot winds, only 1 surfer and 1 windsurfer were stupid enough to test the waters. The wind was blowing out and knocking the tops right off the waves into a breathtaking mist. This was amplified by the occasional beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds creating an almost unreal view.


After a lot of hardwork just getting out, the surfer eventually did catch a wave, much to the delight of the 100 or so people watching from the cliffs above.





Overall a very good day in Hawaii and a much needed escape from the long work hours and the house i share with 8 people. Did i mention how much I hate bunk beds?

Mugging

Yesterday was an exciting day. We were mugged by whales. A dyad (group of 2 animals) we were observing took an interest in the boat and began playing around us. Swimming underneath the boat upside down (belly up)...

At one point one of the whales lifted its tail over the bow of our boat. I was about 2ft from the top of the tail (it was right at eye level) and then it just lightly tapped the boat with the barnacles on the tip of its fluke. That just helps prove how aware these enormous animals are of their bodies. If it had wanted to, it could probably have flipped the boat right over, but instead they were just mugging for the camera. They went as far as to perform a synchronized spy hop...

These two were relatively small, probably still juveniles. Yea whales!

Surface Active

So usually each day we see some whales that are surface active, meaning breaching, head lunging, pec slapping or generally behaviors that result in large splashes. here are a couple pictures i took of some surface active animals. the first is a calf head lunging the rest are of an adult male who did about 15 tale slaps.

Another day...

So I finally remembered to bring my camera on board and actually had time to take pictures since i didnt have a job while we worked with one group of whales. So first are a couple scenic pictures of Maui from the water. Sometimes we end up pretty close to shore with the whales. With this group the visibility in the water was so good that you could see the bottom through 90ft of water. The last photo is of a mom and a yearling (a 1yr old who just hasn't left mom yet but will soon). We also observed a singing whale today. When you're close by the song is loud enough you can hear it on the boat, and if you put your ear against the hull, the sound conducts through the hull and you can hear the song incredibly clearly. Unfortunately, the group i was able to photograph wasn't really surface active (no breaching or head lunging or any other kind of splashing around), but just being this close to the whales is still pretty awesome.

Whales

so we finally got on the water this week. so far i have seen more breaching and surface activity than i had throughout my entire life. the whales are pretty much everywhere and the season hasn't even really begun yet. the best part is when we take swimming breaks throughout the day. when you dive under, you can hear the whales singing. its just absolutely amazing! our research permit allows us to approach the whales to within 15ft, so we get incredible close and see some awesome behaviors. the problem is, i haven't been taking my camera on the boat since its this small 20ft boat and everything can get wet. so no pictures to share right now. also, all pictures i take on the boat with my camera or theirs, becomes property of the dolphin institute. I'll try and bring my camera out this week and see if i cant get a few good photos to post. i cant even imagine what it will be like when we hit the busy months (February and march). so until i get some whale photos, here's a hawaiian sunset.

The Road to Hana: "If heaven had a highway..."

So for new years we went camping at in the Kipahulu area of Haleakala National Park. We left from where we live in Kihei and followed the road along the coast.




Our first stop along the road was a stand of trees, called rainbow eucalyptus.



Then we hiked a little ways off the road along a stream which fed into a pool with a rope-swing. However the swing was hanging about 20ft out from the side of the cliff and we had no way of retrieving it, so no swimming here.




We got back in the cars and continued along the road past some incredible coastal cliffs and winding tropical roads.
We next took a side road off to an area of the shoreline that is covered in volcanic rock and hammered by pounding waves.



Despite the continual barrage of surf there was still life to be found amongst the rocks.

The road to Hana is famous for its scenic lookouts and many beautiful waypoints any of which we did not want to miss.

As the drive was coming to a close and we neared our camp site, we rounded the a tight corner, and got hit (very lightly- no damage) by a national park ranger in his federal vehicle. So after a couple hours of paperwork (it was entirely his fault. seriously, he was on the wrong side of the road) we reached the campsite. We quickly setup the tents and then hiked around the corner to 'Ohe'o Gulch renamed by a hotel owner to the 7 Sacred Pools. Its a series of fresh water pools that feed one to the other by waterfall until connecting with the ocean.






That was it for day 1, overall pretty incredible and overwhelmingly beautiful. We returned to the campsite to ring in the new year with a couple bottles of champagne. The next morning we hiked through the park, past some incredible trees...
Awesome waterfalls...


A bamboo forest....

All to get to this.... (cue the theme from jurassic park)

Actually parts of the movie were shot here. This waterfall is over 400ft high and awe-inspiring. It even makes rainbows (can you find the rainbow?)
We had one last stop to make on the way back home. Another famous Maui landmark
Thats right, its black sand down there. This is Wai'anapanapa Black Sand Beach. It's in a small little cove, but this was the first time i'd ever visited a black sand beach and it was awesome. The sand just feels lighter and softer. The park also contained freshwater caves that we swam in and explored. We need to go back with a brighter light so we can go further in, and probably a wet suit since the water in their takes your breath away.

Anyways, the moral of the story is volcanic rock is really cool (see above) and Maui is breathtakingly beautiful. There is still lots to see and do here. I haven't even been on the water yet or gotten a chance to see any whales. But the boat arrived today and we're going out tomorrow. Based on the photos i've seen from previous field seasons there is going to be a lot of humpbacks and a lot of action.

Chapter 6: Hawaii

So this is something i should have started doing a couple years ago, instead of sending out emails and trying to send pictures. Now everyone can see my pictures online with the ease of visiting a webpage and then curse me under their breath. Since sophomore year in college, i have lived and worked in: Gloucester, MA; Seward, AK; Baja California, Mexico; Sarasota, FL; St. Croix, US Virgin Islands; and now Maui, Hawaii. So i get to live in cool places working seasonal marine biology jobs (sea turtles and marine mammals), but i really dont make any money.
So I've been in Hawaii since dec 28th, and got to spend new years down here. I'm settling in, learning the ropes, meeting the people, and getting ready to work as a research assistant on a humpback whale project (as soon as the boat gets here). we'll be going out on the water, observing the whales, taking photo-ids, underwater video, and biopsy samples, as well as test-running a system for helping boats avoid pods of whales. So until work really starts we have some free time, but that is coming to an end and then its 13days of work, plus 1 day off in between, until the end of april. For new years eve, the group went camping and drove down the road to Hana. For more details on this beautiful drive and scenic locations see my next posting. for now here's a preview of the photos to come.



*This is the road to Hana (it's windy)