While much of the attention is on the lava flows and burning homes in lower Puna, there have been dramatic events at the summit of Kīlauea. The pit crater of Halemaʻumʻau that has been the subject of untold thousands of tourist photos has become almost unrecognizable.
The plume of volcanic gasses from Halemaʻumaʻu under the starsHalemaʻumʻau is a pit crater created by the ever changing eruptions of Kīlauea. Half a mile across, this crater sits within the much larger Kīlauea caldera at the summit of the volcano. A nearly circular pit that lies at the center, home to many eruptions across the centuries. This often fiery pit is reputed to be the home of Pele, the goddess of fire and creation in Hawaiian mythology.
It is bad… A wildfire burns a few thousand acres. Follow that up with torrential rains to sweep all of the ash and mud onto the reef. There is a reason we are not diving this weekend. We had planned to, the water needs a week to clear out the murk. It will be interesting to see the impact on the reef.