koloa landing | Garden Isle Divers

August 28, 2018April 12, 2019

What? I Don’t See It

A few years ago there was an ad campaign that ran in several national level magazines.

image of a US Navy Seals recruiting ad — Navy Recruiting Ad

The ad was designed to promote recruitment to the US Navy Seals. It had a picture of a swamp and a caption underneath that said “Pictured from left to right . . .” I’m guessing that there really were soldiers hidden in the picture but the only thing I know for sure is I never could see them.

I think of that ad when I consider the unique characteristics of a Commersons Frogfish. Like a special forces soldier, the frogfish is aggressive and fearsome. Unlike a special forces soldier, though, only fish need to fear a frogfish.

The Waikiki Aquarium says on its frogfish page that “The frogfish is superbly adapted for its habit of ambushing prey.” The article explains some of the adaptations which make that statement true. First, the fish’s head is mostly mouth which enables it to swallow other fish as large as itself. Second, the fish’s small gill openings are tucked away behind the pectoral fins so that exhaled water will not reveal the fish’s presence to potential prey. Third, and this is the part that reminds me of the Navy recruiting ad, is that frogfish are so good at camouflage that they can be difficult to distinguish from the section of reef they are situated upon. They sometimes even have real algae growing on their skin!

image of a frogfish — Yellow Commersons Frogfish

When we scuba dive Kauai, we have the opportunity to view a number of creatures that are skilled at camouflage but frogfishes are among the most specialized of ambush predators; their camouflage is so effective that biologists call it “aggressive mimicry”.

As members of the same family as the deep sea Anglerfish, frogfish have a special spine that they can use as a sort of “fishing pole” to lure in a potential meal that needs to get just a little bit closer to be food. When an unlucky creature gets to within about the distance of the frogfish’s body length, the frogfish will open its cavernous mouth so quickly that the rapid suction will draw the prey into its mouth. This whole process takes place in just six to ten thousandths of a second, making this one of the fastest capture mechanisms in the animal kingdom.

We have several resident frogfish living at Koloa Landing – one of Kauai’s best dives. It is a virtual certainty that we pass by at least one of them on any given dive tour. The trick is to actually see one. For your best chance at coming face to face with a frogfish while scuba diving Kauai, book a tour with Garden Isle Divers today!

August 10, 2018April 12, 2019

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?

My experience as a professional scuba tour guide on Kauai has been that people are most interested in seeing the colorful tropical fish that are found here. It’s common to come in from a dive and have someone ask a question like “What was that blue one with the yellow tail?” There have only been a couple times that I’ve had a client ask about coral. I’ve always assumed that’s because we can’t normally observe coral ‘behaviors’ like we can with fish.

image of Hawaiian Sergeant — Hawaiian Sergeant

That is easy enough to understand. After all, I’ve never had a coral try to chase me away from its egg deposit like a Hawaiian Sergeant will do.

Maybe more people would be interested in coral if they knew how amazing they really are. So, here is some cool stuff about corals.

image of coral polyp structure — coral structure

Coral is a fleshy animal that creates a stone ‘skeleton’. With most corals some of its food comes from single cell algae that lives in its cells. As Douglas Fenner says in his book Corals of Hawaii, this means that we can say coral is animal, vegetable and mineral. What other living organism is this true for?

When you see a head of coral, what you are actually looking at is hundreds to millions of individuals. Each of the individuals that makes up a particular head is known as a ‘polyp’. Because a head of coral is made up of many individuals, I think of coral heads as being like cities – some small and others larger.

image of mound coral colonies in kauai — Mound Coral Colonies

In the picture shown here, some of the Mound Corals can be thought of as being like Los Angeles or Chicago (without all the murder) while others would be more like Springfield or Grand Rapids.

An individual coral colony starts out as the result of spawning. Many corals release sperm and eggs into the water on a schedule that is known to marine biologists and frequently occurs in relation to a full moon. This means you can plan carefully and then witness, firsthand, this event. Once a colony is established, it will grow by a process of division which means that a given head of coral is a collection of genetically identical polyps. When a polyp divides, the new polyp will secrete limestone to create its skeleton. This process grows the substrate of a coral colony making the size of the coral head larger. This growth can add up to about a quarter inch per year. There is a particular Mound Coral at Koloa Landing that is roughly 15 feet in diameter which makes it thousands of years old. In other words, that particular head of coral is one of the oldest living animals on the planet.

The largest coral heads I see while scuba diving in Hawaii are Mound Corals. The polyps that make up this type of coral are about one sixteenth of an inch in diameter – slightly narrower than the lead of a standard pencil.

image of oval mushroom coral — Oval Mushroom Coral

The largest coral polyp in the world is Mushroom Coral which grows up to about 12 inches in diameter! To continue the cities comparison, a normal coral head is Tokyo and a Mushroom Coral is Godzilla.

These are just a few of the things I think are interesting about coral. If you like this then book a scuba dive tour with us today and I will share more with you. Even better, I will take you on an underwater adventure to explore the reefs of Kauai where you can see many different corals as well as all the beautiful tropical fish we have here.

March 19, 2018April 12, 2019

I Wanna See More of Those!

For as long as I’ve been a diver, I’ve been particularly excited to get to see a nudibranch. The first part of the name ‘nudibranch’ does mean “naked” but that has nothing to do with why they’re exciting to see!

The word “nudibranch” comes from Latin; “Nudi” means ‘naked’ and “branch” is ‘gills’. So, we are talking about an animal that, in most cases, has gills external to its body. Obviously, this is not normal animal kingdom type stuff!

image of a Gold Lace Nudibranch — Gold Lace Nudibranch

In the image of the Gold Lace nudibranch, notice the feathery looking stuff near the lower part of the body – those are gills. To put this in a totally inappropriate perspective, our president spends a lot of time talking out his tail while some nudibranchs spend their lives breathing through theirs. Does this mean they’d be good candidates for vice-president?

According to the World Registry of Marine Species there are currently at least 2,300 species of nudibranch that can be found throughout seas worldwide. While the greatest diversity can be seen on shallow tropical reefs, some have been discovered at depths exceeding 8,000 feet.

Now let’s get to the part about why I’m particularly excited when I get to see a nudibranch. As it says on Wikipedia “This group includes some of the most colorful creatures on earth.” As I say “These things are awesome!” It’s this colorful nature that makes them so fun to see. To put it simply, many are just plain spectacular.

If you’ve read some of my other posts then you might be starting to figure out that I’m pretty much a total nerd.

image of Orange Cup Coral — Orange Cup Coral

One sign of that fact is that I think it’s super cool how nudibranchs have a variety of ways to defend themselves. Since they are just slugs and couldn’t hope to outrun or outmaneuver larger predators, they’ve developed a variety of passive defenses instead. Some individuals have developed coloration patterns that mimic their primary food source. If the Cup Coral nudibranch was hanging

image of a Cup Coral Nudibranch — Cup Coral Nudibranch

around inside the Orange Cup Coral would you see it?

Other nudibranchs go the exact opposite route and have such intensely bright and contrasting color patterns that you couldn’t possibly miss seeing them. In these cases the bright colors are believed to signal to predators that the creature is either poisonous or intensely distasteful.

image of a Varicose Phyllidia — Varicose Phyllidia

And then, there are some – like the Blue Dragon – that can take stinging cells (nematocysts) from the animals they eat.

image of a Blue Dragon Nudibranch — Blue Dragon Nudibranch

This type of nudibranch is capable of eating these nematocysts and relocating them, through their digestive organs, along their bodies where they will then provide a defensive system for the nudibranch.

All of this is in sharp contrast to a creature like me who has primarily relied on an obnoxious personality and sarcasm as a form of keeping potential threats at a distance. In actual practice, this plan frequently backfires and actually creates enemies that didn’t previously exist. Again, our president. . .

I could go on listing interesting nudibranch facts but I think I’ll just post a few more pictures of some of the one’s we see while scuba diving on Kauai instead.

November 25, 2017April 12, 2019

Only In Hawaii

Does the word “endemic” mean anything to you? To the few people who recognize that word the general understanding is “native to an area”. That would be correct but it goes a bit further.

image of a potters angelfish — Potters Angelfish

John P. Hoover is the author of the most popular (for good reason) fish and sea creature identification books that cover Hawaiian marine life. They are found on every dive boat and most of the snorkel boats throughout Hawaii. The way he explains what endemic means is “The occurrence of unique species in a limited geographical area is called ‘endemism’.” (Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, vii) So, it means native to, and only found in, a particular area.

image of a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse — Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

Because of Hawaii’s isolated nature, there are few places in the world that have a comparable percentage of endemic species. Science Daily says “Previous studies, based on scuba surveys in water less than 100 feet, determined that on average 21 percent of coral reef fish species in Hawaii are unique to the Hawaiian Archipelago.” In other words, one out of every four or five species that we see while diving here are not found in other areas of the world. That is a surprising number. Even more incredible though “in waters 100 to 300 feet deep, nearly 50 percent of the fish scientists observed over a two-year period… were unique to Hawaii, a level higher than any other marine ecosystem in the world.”

As if that isn’t enough, there is even a special type of endemic species known as a relict. In most cases, biologists can point to fish found in other parts of the world and declare them to be the ancestral species of an endemic. In a few cases, though, there is no known ancestral species because the ancestral line is now extinct. The Bandit Angelfish, which is common on Kauai, is one such example.

image of a Bandit Angelfish — Bandit Angelfish

You say you want to do something truly special, something that will make your Hawaiian vacation unforgettable? Come scuba dive with us! We guarantee that you will see things you can’t see anywhere else in the world.

October 22, 2017April 12, 2019

Turtles Rule!

I have yet to meet the person who is not excited for a chance to come face to face with a Green Sea Turtle. The day I do, I will probably run for my life because there’s something seriously wrong with that guy.

Let’s be real – how can you not just love such a magnificent creature? Of all the cool and crazy creatures we are privileged to see, the turtle is easily the most graceful and alluring.

image of a Sea Turtle — Green Sea Turtle

Turtles are popular enough that most people know at least one or two basic facts. For example, you probably already know that sea turtles create a nest on the beach and then lay eggs. But, did you know that each nest averages about 115 eggs? With that many eggs, perhaps one day sea turtle populations worldwide will be able to recover to the point that turtles will no longer be listed as an endangered, or even protected, species.

In spite of the large number of eggs produced by a female sea turtle, populations worldwide are showing an overall declining trend. The exception is Hawaii where the green turtle population is actually increasing in abundance and has increased 53% over the last 25 years. This increasing population is most visible here on Kauai due to the fact that the bulk of the nesting population is found among the uninhabited islands to the north. As the northern population increases, turtles migrate south with Kauai being their first good chance for a new home.

image of a green sea turtle — A Friendly Green Turtle

Years ago I read that turtles continue to grow throughout their lives. So, the larger a turtle is, the older it is. Marine scientists don’t know how long turtles live but believe it to be up to 80 years. Whatever the true lifespan is, it must be a long time since it is typical for adults to weigh about 300 to 400 pounds! Some can be as heavy as 440 pounds and the largest green turtle ever found was 5 feet in length and 871 pounds!!!

Come scuba diving on Kauai with Garden Isle Divers and we will take you to a place where you can have your own personal face to face encounter with sea turtles.

October 17, 2017April 12, 2019

There be dragons here

Dragons, as most people understand them, are mythical creatures – huge fire breathing reptiles that can fly and sometimes even speak human language. That idea is nonsense but dragons do exist!

image of A Small Dragon Moray — A Small Dragon Moray

According to the Maui Ocean Center, there are 42 species of eel that can be found in Hawaii. According to everybody who knows their eels, the Dragon is the most exciting. I had a client recently who came here from Zurich, Switzerland hoping to see “the Holy Grail of eels.” Smart move on his part coming to Kauai because our local dive site, Koloa Landing, is famously popular for the great chance of finding one.

image of a dragon moray — Adult Dragon Moray Eel

Dragons can grow up to three feet long and are skilled predators of fish and octopus. They have nostril tubes at the tip of their snout and a second pair above their eyes that look like horns. The “horns”, together with a curved mouth and needle sharp teeth make the Dragon Moray appear ferocious. In reality, if you keep your hands to yourself you are completely safe. That is a lesson that we, as divers, should apply to all creatures on the reef – keep your hands to yourself.

October 16, 2017April 12, 2019

A Regular Day

We were having a pretty regular day of scuba diving at Koloa Landing the other day. In other words, it was spectacular!!! Looking at the picture below you might think we were in a less interesting area of the reef. You’d be wrong. The rubble flats are home to some of the wildest creatures you will ever see.

image of a scuba diver underwater — Scuba Diver At 40 Feet

That picture was taken just seconds after finding a huge Commersons Frog Fish. Easily the largest I’ve seen. Commersons Frog Fish are ambush predators. They sit patiently for long periods of time just waiting for some unsuspecting little fish to come swimming by. Then, in just hundredths of a second, they open their giant mouth so fast that the victim gets sucked into the frog fish’s mouth and swallowed whole. It happens so fast it’s like watching a magic trick: Now you see it, now you don’t. It’s as if the fish simply blinks out of existence.

image of a Commersons Frogfish — Commersons Frogfish

Within minutes of finding the frog fish we had also found 2 Leaf Scorpionfish, a Devil Scorpionfish and 7 species of eel including a Dragon Moray. So yeah, a regular day of scuba diving on Kauai’s coral reef.