Ocean Love

Before I learned about the colorful world of sea slugs when I heard them mentioned, nothing exciting came to my mind, until I started diving deep into their world... the world of Nudibranchs. Nudibranchs - Pronounced: New-dee-branks These tiny ocean invertebrates although colorful, pack a bigger punch then one would expect. Let me show you the way into their world on this week's blog.  Notice all the bright colors and odd shapes in the photos you just saw? That is only the tip of the iceberg as there are more than 2,000 different species of nudibranchs all over the world with each of them offering something unique.  These sea slugs have no shells and soft bodies so how do they protect themselves? Well some of them eat certain marine life that have defense mechanisms already such as stinging cells and when ingested the nudibranchs actually take on those stinging cells to make them their own to use in turn as defense!  The lifespan of nudibranchs can vary depending on speci...

  I want to share my day at Dolphin Quest located at the Kahala Resort. It was such a fun and educational experience involving dolphins along with the husbandry and training that is required to care for them. I was lucky enough to be able to pay a visit and receive an inside look at their dolphin program because I was an intern at the Waikiki Aquarium and all of us interns were invited, along with the volunteers. The day started out with introductions and a run-down of the activities and educational sessions. The sea life area was divided up into stations and we were divided up into groups to attend those stations. Most of the stations involved dolphin husbandry but a couple of the stations had fish, rays, and turtles to learn about.  At the dolphin stations we got an inside look at medical treatments and exams that were very similar to how we teach and handle our monk seals at the aquarium. Basically the goal is to teach a marine mammal to pose their bodies to expose parts th...

  This week I am highlighting another one of my favorite beaches, Ko`Olina. These are actually lagoons on the westside of the island in a resort area called Aulani Disney Resort. These resort grounds house a small scale waterpark with pools, lazy rivers, and slides for family fun. It is your typical resort but that's not the draw for me anyways. Once you pull off the freeway you are guided into this resort area where you have a choice to pick one out of four lagoons to park and spend the day at. Any one of the four are relaxing and beautiful but for me personally I try to spend my day at the very last one called lagoon 4. I feel it is typically less crowded and I am drawn to the rock wall to the left where there are fish and critters in the water to snorkel with. Picture below... The water is very calm and the rock wall gives you an opportunity to see and photograph some amazing sunsets. I just love to bring a book here and read all day. Another plus of this area is that the resort...

  Hanauma Bay although an extremely crowded touristy attraction is one of my favorite spots on the island to snorkel. This surprises a lot of people because as someone who lives on the island it is known that islanders tend to stay away from the more touristy attractions. I am generally on board with this but certain parts of the island I cannot ignore like Hanauma Bay.  My love for Hanauma Bay is never experiencing the same snorkel scenario twice. There is an abundance of fish species and the quantities of those species is different each time. I may go and see 2 different eel species one time and no eel species the next. It reminds me of the ol' Forrest Gump saying, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." This is really true each time I go to experience Hanauma Bay. I am such a nerd when it comes to the ocean that I always play a game/educational tactic with myself and that is to spot a fish and identify which species it is. This mak...

So today I was officially released from my 14-day quarantine that is required for anyone coming into the island. I went to Ohio 2 weeks ago to visit family and since I got back I have basically been under house arrest. Before coming back home I thought, "No big deal, it will go by fast..." but boy was I wrong! It has been torture and I can honestly say the only hobbies I had were reading books for fun, reading books for schoolwork, watching movies/TV shows, studying for my upcoming fall semester classes, played with my cat Puma, talked to friends and family, played zoom trivia twice, and of course the essentials (eat, sleep, bathe, etc.). Well, today was the 15th day and I made my day count. The first thing I did was drive up to North Shore to stop for a quick snorkel session at Shark's Cove. I took my Akaso underwater camera with me. Video and photo below...                                 ...

Very few things can match the power of a raging sea. To see it in pictures is one thing but to be standing there in the midst of it is another. It is amazing that these powerful Pacific storms can create these swells. These winter waves actually come from Japan 3,500 miles away believe it or not! Japanese storm systems naturally more towards us and the winds just help the storms travel even more so. This is a blessing to the local and international surf community which is what draws them to the North Shore during the winter months. Below is a photo comparison of Waimea Bay during the summer months vs winter.  The difference is pretty incredible.  The months that you will experience high surf is between November and February and it is in the month of December that they hold the Billabong Pipe Masters Surf Competition. This is just down the road from the above photos and is really fun to watch!                     ...

Aloha! Today's blog is all about the open water shark swim I went on last year December 8 for my 32nd birthday. It was super early in the morning and was a 2 hour tour. The price is around $130.00 per person and is up in Haleiwa. This was my second time swimming in open water and I had done a cage tour as well which was less exciting to me. The sharks are trained to respond to the boat motor and will swarm to the surface when they hear or feel the vibrations. The reason they do is because fisherman and the cage encounters are encouraged to chum the water in that area so the sharks can learn to associate the motor with food. Of course, the open swim encounter does not deal with chum, the sharks come with the sound of the boat only!  It is a beautiful boat ride out and fairly quick. If you are lucky you get to see other marine life. When the boat reaches the area they slow and get you ready once the boat stops to jump in right away. The initial jump in is the most incredible because ...