Longhorn in paradise!

[VBlueV]

my brother, recent alum of UT Austin, just got certified
in one of the Austin town lakes where he said viz was about a foot..
you couldn't even see your hands =O

day one. he was amazed by the 40 foot viz at Sharks Cove his first day here.
(tho' 40 foot viz isn't so good for locals

sooo calm at the Cove.. that i, in my infinite wisdom o_0
decided to have him jump directly into the elevator-shaft on only his 6th dive ever!

here's just some of the stuff we spied on that dive:
reticulated cowrie..

slipper lobster..

gold-lace nudibranch..

second dive.. we walked over to firehouse where viz was a bit better.. 60 feet.
right at the entry point.. a large pair of clumpy nudi's each the size of a hand..

then a coronet fish was hiding just above a green turtle..


this spanish dancer was actually falling from the ceiling within one of the cathedrals when we saw it.
beautiful.

toward the end of the dive.. a giant 3 foot blue-fin trevally was lumbering under some ledges..

day two. we dove the YO-257.. wow, was it rough!
and viz so bad, you couldn't even see the giant mooring ball from the surface.
i think he must've brought the bad viz with him =/
on the bright side.. he got to see his first shark up close in the hold of the San Pedro!

day three. we opted for calmer conditions.. and headed for e-beach.
viz was only a little better, but he had fun playing in the outflow from the 2 large pipes.
my bro' swimming along-side a turtle..

one of several humpback cowries we found near the pipes..
(some of which were emptied.. by takos?)

second dive.. we drove up the road to makaha caverns..
where we saw a couple dozen turtles including 6 perched over the turtle-cleaning-station.

as we neared the caverns.. a titan scorpionfish was sunning to the side of a ledge..

and then a white-mouth moray was free-swimming right toward us before it settled on this hole..

within the caverns back in the donut cave.. we found a medium 4 to 5 foot white tip reef shark..
didn't like our bubbles.. so it decided to do laps around the cavern until we left..


updates later..

 

[VBlueV]

day four. back to the north shore to dive the moon-scape of haleiwa trench..
saw tons of turtles in all the nooks.. plus several on the multiple TCS's atop the wall..

found another slipper.. this one covered in moon-dust..

a plate coral.. those nodules on top seemed to move in the current..

and a bright school of juvi bi-colors..

second dive.. drove back to sharks cove to get some better viz.. whew! 50+ feet =)
a nice cavern run out the center of the cove to the T-caves and over to the pinnacles.
sponge crab underneath crazy-horse..

and the white-est scrambled egg i've seen..

here's my little bro' again.. front of crazy horse..

day five. launched out of waianae to get him some rays.
first dive.. the mahi shipwreck. mission accomplished.. we saw 12 eagle rays!

and to boot.. a 5 to 6 foot fat barracuda looming around the top of the mast!

"good barracuda, nice barracuda" (*please don't eat us*)
it actually followed above us to the bow as we followed the dozen eagle rays =O

my bro' floating aft of the mahi..

second dive.. LCU west slash 29-down airplane wreck..
plus.. a bonus wreck.. a new sail-boat ship-wreck sitting amongst the cement blocks to the side of the LCU.
almost seemed accidental.. except you could tell it had been gutted before the scuttle..

here's what's left of the 29-down airplane after several storms that've ripped thru the canyon it sets in..

and my bro' in the cockpit..

thanks for viewing..

HOOK 'EM.. HORNS!

 

[S0ckm0nk3y]

Absolutely epic pics!

Thanks for posting.

-Eric

 

[Daiika]

Thanks for sharing. Wow! your pictures really come out sharp in the macro. "Good Job"

Rod

 

[VBlueV]

thank you kindly alls y'alls!
the macro setting does do a pretty "good job".. so long as i remain very still.

day 6. skipped a day to venture in more terrestrial activities..
including one of the best luaus on the island..
Paradise Cove.. outrigger canoe rides, juicy flavorful kalua pork,
and a lively full length polynesian show!
here's us paddling an outrigger..

and my little bro' with our cousins..
(he wishes they were kissin' cousins =)

she had him by the .....

day 7. enroute to the site.. we happened upon a school of full sized bottlenose dolphins..
[at first thought they were just really big spinners]
but much larger and darker than i've ever seen.. with a pronounced bold hooked dorsal..
but, still very acrobatic, playful, and did some bow-riding so's my bro' could see 'em up close.
mahalos to the bottlenose!


first dive.. back to the mahi to catch more "rays"..
this day we only saw 11 eagle rays.. (think one followed us to LCU west the other day)
here're a couple that let me get close-ish..

yellow soldier-fish ever present beneath the collapsed pilot house..
(interesting because i mostly see the red ones around the island)

white mouth moray within the anchor-wheel on the mahi bow..

and my bro' with the flag atop the mast..

second dive.. cruised north to Kea'u Corners.. a series of tall cathedral arches.

next to this yellow margin.. a rare scarlet cleaner shrimp..
(there was also a red marbled shrimp hiding behind the moray..
but i didn't wanna move the eel out of the way to get the shot)

groove-toothed cowrie..

and finally.. a white leaf-scorpion-fish..

well.. my bro' got 12 dives in 7 days.. and now has 17 logged dives!
solid diver.
great job bro'!

 

[lonniehammack]

JJ - Awesome! You always amaze me with the sea creatures you find. I never saw any of the Bottlenose Dolphins, although I read about them. I'm sure your brother will be talking about his trip for a long time. Thanks for sharing. Lonnie