Dive #41 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log

Where are the fish?
Photo by Rich Torkington in Hawaii 1998

Dive Journal: Our second dive takes us slightly north of the marina to Kaiwi Point. This is a beautiful little Hawaiian cove with great visibility. Once again, Lisa takes us on an outstanding tour of fish species. The more common fish include moorish idols, achilles tang, orange band surgeonfish, racoon butterflyfish, lemon butterflyfish, long nosed butterflyfish, and more whitemouth morays. By far my favorites are the pyramid butterflyfish - very nice!

Lisa also seeks out a "crown of thorns" starfish, not unlike the chocolate-chip starfish we saw in the Sea of Cortez. At one point, she points out a pair of plate-sized butterflyfish at around 70 feet which I never identified (maybe lined or saddleback?). She also points out a lone flame angelfish at depth, evidently a rare sighting. These used to be common but have been hunted out of diving depths for the aquarium market.

Near the end of the dive we see a juvenile short dragonfish, a school of jacks, and a peacock flounder.

Following the dives, I return to the Royal Kona Resort in mid-afternoon to find Dad worried sick about me. Since I have returned about an hour later than I had estimated, Dad has incorrectly concluded that I have surely had a monumental diving accident. He has even notified the Kona police in a futile attempt to locate me.

The following day Dad and I went sportfishing. As a disclaimer, I must admit that since I've been diving, I am less and less inclined to go fishing. But this is something that my Dad enjoys greatly and so I accompany him along. However, what a zero trip, aboard A. J. Friend’s Hula Girl! Not even a nibble or sighting all day!