Tag: reef

A Morning at Three Tables

With the south shores of Oahu denied us by rough conditions, we spent a day diving the north shore of the island. The specified rendezvous was a site known to local divers as Three Tables for a little shore diving. With an iPhone and Google Maps in hand, Deb and I drove across the island along unfamiliar roads to Oahu’s famous North Shore.

Three Tables
The beach at Three Tables, North Shore, Oahu as seen from the parking lot, photo by Deborah
What greeted us was a pleasant surprise. A small, sandy beach fronted a very interesting cove. Parking was just above the beach, we would not need to carry the gear very far at all. The “Three Tables” were an obvious set of flat rocks just out from the beach.

There were quite a few divers already present, including a class just getting their certification. Our group just added to the party. Charles and Jeannie, who had been with us on the previous day’s aborted dive at the YO-257. Another visitor from Texas, Ray, joined us for the dive.

Leading the dive would be Gabe Scotti, the owner of Kaimana Divers. Christine would be his backup. While Gabe led off, Christine would play the caboose, riding herd on the group. It was a nice day to be diving, we chatted while setting up the gear. It was a relaxed, Hawaiian style morning.

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Postcard from the Reef – Sphinx Nudibranch

From a distance it looked like another common P. varicosa, a nudibranch I see all the time on the reef. Getting closer something was different. No protuberances, no yellow, what was it? Simply a juvenile that has not developed the full colors and pattern? Not knowing what it was I proceed to take a few photos of the critter.

Hitting the books it quickly becomes apparent, it was a P. sphingus I found and photographed. A new species for me! I carefully read through the descriptions of the various dorid nudibranch found in Hawai’i again. I need to look closer, there are some lookalikes to be aware of.

Sphinx Nudibranch
Sphinx Nudibranch (Phyllidiopsis sphingis) at 25′ depth, Puako

Postcard from the Reef – Protopalythoa?

Hawaiian reefs are well studied, so much so that identification of what I find is often fairly easy. Various resources from popular guide books to professional papers list most of the species one is likely to encounter. There are also several excellent online references that I make regular use of.

There will be situations when identification is not quite so easy… There are critters that are difficult to identify from a simple photograph. Such is the case with this small group of cnidarians I found in a crevice. They caught my eye enough that I took the photo, but proved a bit more difficult when I hit the books. The best I can guess at is the family Protopalythoa, among the zoanthids. I have no need to collect a specimen and find an expert, thus these will most likely remain unidentified…

Protopalythoa sp?
Most likely a member of the zonanthid family Protopalythoa, just a handful of animals in a reef crevice at Puako

Postcard from the Reef – Redstripe Pipefish

A close relative of seahorses, pipefish are usually found sheltering in crevices or small caves. They are not uncommon sights for anyone who makes a habit of investigating the nooks and crannies of the reef…

Redstripe Pipefish
Redstripe Pipefish (Dunckerocampus baldwini) at the rear of an alcove at Hoover’s Towers

Postcard from the Reef – Spanish Dancer

What is that? That is too big to be a nudibranch, but that is what it looked like. I could only see part of the beast looking into the cave crevice. Fortunately it turned out to be somewhat photophobic, the bright light flushed it out of the crevice into the cave…

Spanish Dancer
Spanish Dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus)
A Spanish Dancer!

I make a point to look for nudibranchs, pretty critters that are wonderfully photogenic. Looking into the nooks and crannies of the reef for nudibranchs also tends to turn up other tiny surprises.

This was not small!

While the typical nudibranch is one or two inches long, this fellow was the size of a dinnerplate! Adding to the wonder was the dance. As soon as the animal left the crevice it swam across the cave. I flashed Mark to get his attention, he was ready to leave the cave. I suspect he is glad he came back. Deb also wondered what we were still doing in the cave and came in to check on us. Thus we all got a good look at the dance.

After a few photos… OK, a lot of photos, I shepherded the fellow back into his crevice. Once I withdrew the light he settled down to stay in the darkness.

Spanish Dancer
Spanish Dancer (Hexabranchus sanguineus) swimming in a cave at the Dotti’s Reef dive site north of Honokohau

Diving Puakō

Another weekend, another dive. This time at one of our favorite dive spots, Puakō End-of-Road. It was just Deb and I this time. The usual crew was out this weekend as well, but we had other goals in mind for the dive and choose to go to a closer site.

Brick Soldierfish
Brick Soldierfish (Myripristis amaena) in a cave at Puakō
One goal for the dive was testing some new kit. The new regulator performed pleasingly well, very easy breathing. Need to test it deeper, but for a first dive with new gear we kept it easy, around 40′ maximum depth. One issue is the mouthpiece, that simply has to change! I will be taking the mouthpiece off my old reg before the next dive. Need to rearrange the hoses as well, these

The other pleasant surprise was finding two new species of nudibranch. As Deb and I were diving without the rest of the crew, I was particularly slow. As usual poking my head into every nook and cranny. The result was finding examples of Phyllidiella rosans and Phyllidiopsis sphingis.

Going slow and shallow had another effect, almost 80 minutes underwater. Not a record for us, but high on the list of our longer dives. Not bad for a single aluminum 80 cylinder.

A nice Saturday dive, another hour spent underwater, and some new stuff found. A good day.