This page is a continually updating story. Things I E-Mail or post on FecesBook will usually go here.
Hello all, I made it to Hawaii. Around 16 hours of travel time, get to the airport, and get Leid. Well, that's what usually happens. Some pretty girl comes up, says Aloha and puts a necklace of flowers around your neck.
This time, some guy says Aloha, sticks a cotton swab up my nose and says I will be called if I test positive... It is definitely NOT the same.
The next morning, when I stopped at the dive shop to present my dive cards and such, a friend comes out of the back and says hello. He is a dive guide that I met on some of the Divers Den trips, and I knew he lived in the area, but due to mistakes on my part I hadn't gotten in touch yet, figured I would look him up when I got here. I didn't even know he worked for this shop.
A musician with a mask, and the smell of ganja not bad.
What the hell, I thought I left this behind
A diver was kind enough to give me the video of me free diving with the dolphins. I'm the one that looks like a walrus. I need to lose some weight.
Link to Video of Bob swimming with the Spinner Dolphins
To the two ladies in the hotel room across the way. Here's a tip, if the sun is shining in to your room in such a way that the sliding door can be used as a full-length mirror, then you probably shouldn't be using it as a full-length mirror to change your clothes, and try out different tops. And yes, I recognized you in the restaurant later in the evening. I like the first top better.
There's something not quite right about this Grateful Dead poster.
Here is a link to another diver's youtube video of our Manta Dive. Fantastic creatures. Typically 18 foot wingspan, although they can be larger. The dive companies put lights on the ocean floor which attracts plankton, which attracts the Mantas. Fantastic to see, and at the end of the dive we saw a Monk Seal come over for a look.
Just a tease, will have some sexy scenes with these guys later
That is one sexy lady, I guess.
OK, after that, I posted a 6 minute video of these guys. Not everyone's cup of tea, but it is rare to see the mating ritual so clearly, and who doesn't want to see fish p.or.n.
Frogfish are not the prettiest fish in the world, at least not to us, they seem to like each other well enough though, as this video clearly shows.
I am trying YouTube to display some videos. Let me know if this works better than my regular SmugMug service. YOUTUBE Version
Are your teeth looking a little dull? Feeling a little gritty, floss just doesn't seem to be doing its job? Here's the solution. Just visit this cleaning station and leave with bright white teeth and healthy gums.
Those are Cleaning Shrimp Good Dental Hygiene
Same Video on Youtube Good Dental Hygiene
Zebra Moray Eels are kind of blind, but they have a really good sense of smell. They're kind of shy, and are hard to see as they hide in the rocks and the crevasses. But they really like the taste of urchin. I don't like urchin, nasty spiny things. If you catch an urchin, and bring it over to them, kind of break it up a little bit, they will come right out of their hole and chow down.
Description VIDEO OF ZEBRA MORAY EEL
Same Video on Youtube ZEBRA MORAY EEL
We dove a location known for Tiger Sharks.
We saw a hammerhead on the first dive today, but somehow the camera did not get turned on, not by me, nor Sandy the dive master. Still for us it was an awesome thing to see. She came close, on her side, and was obviously hunting. But on the second dive I did get a video of a tiger shark. Tiger sharks are cool, cuz they are one of the few species that doesn't seem to care that we don't taste good. Most sharks, if they bite, they take a bite, and then leave because we don't taste very good. Tiger sharks, well you never know.
First you call the sharks by making a noise such as scraping rocks. Then you wait. Then you see a Tiger Shark (you can barely see it in the video) then you do the Tiger Shark Shimmy. Or in my case, have a seizure. DM Sandy called it my Grampa Dance.
Sandy the DM keeps trying to get Grampa Bob to do cool things. I don't think she realizes that I have never been cool.
You can just barely see the shark. Still, I was pretty excited to see a Tiger. VIDEO OF TIGER SHARK
Same Video on Youtube TIGER SHARK SHIMMY
Mantas are everywhere around here.
This will be a continuing update, as I will keep adding videos to my Album, and pointing out especially good ones.
ESPECIALLY GOOD VIDEOS
MANTA RAY ALBUM
A fun little 115 foot dive on a Cessna that crashed here. No one was hurt in the crash nor in the filming of this dive.
Link to the album of pics and video . ALBUM
It's night and raining. Where else is there to go but to see a volcano. You cannot see the actual lava, but the glow lights up the steam and smoke coming from the volcano. This pic was taken with my phone in "Night Sight" mode, and actually looks better than the real thing.
I think I see Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light.
Who doesn't find a school of fish relaxing?
Link to video. Pyramid Butterfly Fish
Who doesn't find diving in a cave relaxing? Well, OK, there might be a few people. This was not exactly a cave, as it had visible exits and all that, but it sure feels like a cave. It's called an "Overhead Environment". We saw all kinds of things in there. I was able to video a few, but I am still getting the hang of using a video camera while diving. It's tough enough to do in bright sunlight, but trying to use a flashlight to illuminate the subject, while not stirring up silt and not getting in anyone's way is a bit tricky. Plus, many of the things were too small to capture with my camera as it does not focus close up. I do love this kind of diving. Try not to get Sea Sick
Link to video. Overhead Environment Dive
So before the trip there were Volcano Eruption and Earthquake warnings. Then Winter Weather Advisories. Flooding advisories and now Tsunami warnings.
Note to self Don't send this pic to loved ones, then go diving for over an hour. The ringing phone really annoys the boat captain
Who doesn't find diving with a Hammer Head Shark relaxing? Not the best video, but not bad. He wandered by because he heard that there was a diver who was afraid of sharks.
Link to video. HAMMER HEAD
Looking out to the deep, I turned my head more inland and saw this Tiger Shark swimming awfully close. Took a bit for the camera to turn on, but at least I got a decent video out of it.
Later on some Dolphins were playing nearby at the same time a smaller tiger shark swam by.
Link to TIGER SHARK video.
A 3D Rorschach test (Ink Blot)
Link to INK BLOT TEST video.
A bunch of Dolphins decided to show off for us. There is a point, between dolphins, where a tiger shark comes by. He is very hard to see, then the dolphins get between it and us. I like the sentiment, but would have loved to get a better video of the Tiger shark along with the Dolphins. In this area, they often swim near each other. We were coming back to the dock one time, and watching the dolphins on the surface around the boat, and a tiger shark just under them. He shows up around the 1:06 mark, but I doubt many of you will be able to pick him out. He is swimming mid screen, swimming towards the left. A bit after he shows up, you might hear some rattling from another diver signaling that there is a shark there, then some dophins come in from the left..
The sounds you are hearing are a mixture of various boats on the surface, other divers, my selfie stick that the camera is attached to, and of course the dolphins.
Link to DOLPHINS video.
Maybe I've just been traveling too much, or have been to too many weird ass places. But today, when the car in front of me caught fire, and no one was in danger, it didn't even occur to me to take a picture. I was like... Ehh.... Another car on fire. At least nobody was standing on top of it, jumping up and down.
I got to the airport, weighed my bags and my dive bag was 2 pounds heavy, so I moved my regulator to my carry on. I have a fairly new BC, and had to move some of my gear from my BC to my regulator. This is what I saw while sitting in the boarding area. The Divers in the group will understand.
We all decided it was forever more to be called a spoon.
Taken from my Lanai - Maui
Baby whale Jumps out of the water, then Baby slappin' tail to imitate Mommy. They were at this for a long time. I just caught a small part of it. There is a third whale between mommy and baby slapping it's fin. I get much closer to the Whales on the boats, but it is great to watch them from the Lanai while relaxing.
Link to WHALES ON THE LANAI - 1 video.
OK, Only one Flying Gurnard. I think this is the Oriental Flying Gurnard. Although, they kinda run on the bottom more than actually flying.
In the background you can hear the whales singing. And one of the divers rattling to get our attention, because there is a Monk Seal swimming nearby. I think only one diver saw it well, and got a pretty good video to prove it.
Link to FLYING GURNARD video.
I believe this is a Razor Wrasse. I am sure they told me what they are a dozen times, but did I listen?
Link to RAZOR WRASSE video.
Baby whale learning to fly. Baby Whale trying to imitate momma jumping out of the water.
Link to Flying Baby Whale video.
I just love turtles.
Link to TURTLE video.
I saw this and was sure it was a ceramic toy someone placed in the ocean. Glad I didn't try to pick it up. I don't think it would have been happy. This one could be 3 feet long.
From the Internet: The Reptilian snake eel (Brachysomophis henshawi, also known as the Henshaw's snake eel, the Hawaiian crocodile eel, or the Crocodile snake eel) is an eel in the family Ophichthidae (worm/snake eels) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_snake_eel
The Crown of Thorns Starfish is naturally occurring in Hawaii, but if the numbers get out of balance (too high) they can devastate the coral. They are pretty interesting to see, as some can get to 3 feet across. Most are much smaller. The video here shows one eating, or moving or whatever it is doing.
From the Interwebs - Can a crown of thorns starfish kill a human? A brave (and arguably foolish) diver will quickly discover that the sharp spines aren't the COTS' only means of defense, as the spines contain neurotoxins and starfish poison that are dangerous to both humans and marine creatures -- They occur naturally on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and when conditions are right, they can reach plague proportions and devastate hard coral communities. Our research has revealed crown-of-thorns starfish are a major cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef, after coral bleaching. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown-of-thorns_starfish
Link to CROWN OF THORNS video.
Can you finds the fish in this pic?
Click on PIC to see a Close Up, that should be easier to see
So I see this guy cruising around, on this hydrofoil board. I've seen them before, people use them as surfing and in the waves, and they jump up and down to keep them moving when the waves decrease. Always wanted to look into it. But this guy wasn't moving much at all. And then he got into a bad wave and faceplanted. Yes I filmed him getting back up on this thing, because I wanted to see how that worked. I've only ever seen it before where the people were surfing. well after watching this video, I have some serious questions for my physics professors.
But then I found out there are whores that have electric propulsion now I want one.
Damn voice to text, it's supposed to read "I found out there are boards I have a compulsion, now I want one."
Tell me again, I'm supposed to read, I found out there's boards that have electric impression, no I want one.
Josh darnit, this voice to text is driving me crazy.
Gosh darn, not Josh darn it ...... It seems to be getting worse...... Maybe I shouldn't use voice to text in a bar surrounded by drunk people.
The hell with voice to text. Anyway, I see these things cruising around outside my place, and don't find out until later that there are now electrically powered boards. They look pretty cool and I want one now.
Link to PHYSICS video.
You want Turtles? Ohh yeah, we got Turtles.
I did a dive on the Mala Warf. It is known for sharks and Turtles. This is a cleaning station for turtles. The place is so littered with them they almost get in your way.
Link to TURTLE ALLEY video.
The whales outside my Lanai in Maui wanted to say goodbye.
Link to WHALES GOODBYE video.