Riffe Freedivers 9/14

[Cacia]

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Hi everyone, I have posted the photos I took of Riffe freedivers 9/14 in case anyone is interested. Greys showed up and became very aggressive, chomping the shafts. The surf built to 10-15 ft and was breaking over the channel marker in Hawaii Kai. The captain surfed the boat in between sets, very exciting. Thanks to Jille Riffe and everyone else. The fish was wonderful and the ceviche unbelievable Johnny!

 

[bluemagoo]

Nice uku's(?) and kaku. Looks to be 80+ft? Noticed some pics didn't show taglines on the guns; freeshafting or is it time for a new glasses? Last time I was on a boat punching through surf like that was at Halawa on Molokai; twin sterndrive Volvo Pentas, something like 220+shp each, providing the muscle....

 

[sea nmf]

Beautiful, Catherine! I am assuming you were also freediving to get the photos?

 

[Cacia]

Beautiful, Catherine! I am assuming you were also freediving to get the photos?

No, and lets just say I was at the limit of my aerobic ability with a tank! When they started chumming the water, I was like , uhhh, do I have a buddy ? They said "oh you won't need one because we are only going 70 ft." Then they assured me that the practice was to guard anyone that was "unarmed" in the water. We drifted with a float and I tried to get some fun shots. The girl, Liz looks like an action hero.

Yes, Uku! I am learning the Hawaiian names.

 

[justleesa]

Love the sunset

 

[bluemagoo]

No, and lets just say I was at the limit of my aerobic ability with a tank! When they started chumming the water, I was like , uhhh, do I have a buddy ? They said "oh you won't need one because we are only going 70 ft." Then they assured me that the practice was to guard anyone that was "unarmed" in the water. We drifted with a float and I tried to get some fun shots. The girl, Liz looks like an action hero.

Yes, Uku! I am learning the Hawaiian names.

"Uku" is grey snapper; kind of a strong taste. "Opakapaka" (red-pink snapper) and the similar "onaga" (red snapper) are sweet eating, commanding premium prices. Also very sweet eating is the wrasse called "nabeta", a smallish grey fish usually found hovering close over sandy bottoms and has a very blunt head, much like a bull mahimahi. Btw, "uku" also refers to head lice so you might want to be careful about using it in context -- yelling at someone "You got some big uku's!!" might not get the reaction you intended

 

[Cacia]

"Uku" is grey snapper; kind of a strong taste. "Opakapaka" (red-pink snapper) and the similar "onaga" (red snapper) are sweet eating, commanding premium prices. Also very sweet eating is the wrasse called "nabeta", a smallish grey fish usually found hovering close over sandy bottoms and has a very blunt head, much like a bull mahimahi. Btw, "uku" also refers to head lice so you might want to be careful about using it in context -- yelling at someone "You got some big uku's!!" might not get the reaction you intended

Okay Bluemagoo, I promise not to shout that at anyone.

Questions:

If Kaku is Japanese for baracuda, does that mean ciguetera is a possibility? Or water too cold here... and If Moonfish is the exception to this class, (Opah, correct?) then do they have big choppers? These Grey Snapper looked like they had big pink dentures--and molars.

Also, what about H. Kai being "sharky" ? Where did you hear that?

 

[chepar]

Btw, "uku" also refers to head lice so you might want to be careful about using it in context -- yelling at someone "You got some big uku's!!" might not get the reaction you intended.

 

[rgbmatt]

Kaku is the Hawaiian word for barracuda.

You can get ciguatera from it, and most other local reef fish (including uku). But ciguatera isn't very common here so there's no sense worrying much about it. People eat hundreds of reef fish every day and there's maybe 3-4 cases per month.

I don't think Hawaii Kai is terribly sharky, having shot lots of fish there and only running into trouble once. Probably have seen the most sharks off Waikiki/Ala Moana area myself.

 

[Cacia]

Kaku is the Hawaiian word for barracuda.

You can get ciguatera from it, and most other local reef fish (including uku). But ciguatera isn't very common here so there's no sense worrying much about it. People eat hundreds of reef fish every day and there's maybe 3-4 cases per month.

I don't think Hawaii Kai is terribly sharky, having shot lots of fish there and only running into trouble once. Probably have seen the most sharks off Waikiki/Ala Moana area myself.

yea, that has been my impression, thats why I was asking.. Although someone told me recently (Oh, the shark-researcher Nick at U of H) that Greys have not been spotted out here and that they were probably Galapagos. I was wondering about it because these freediving spear-toters really seemed to know their stuff. I think that is what he said.

Good, about the ciguatera because I ate a lot of it three days in a row and my fingers were sort of tingling.