Dad Visit & Favorite Fish

My dad was on the islands for business and got to come visit us. We hiked down to snorkel at Captain Cook Monument and found a pair of one of my favorite fish, the Saddleback Butterflyfish. I have not seen any of these fish since the last time I snorkeled at Captain Cook two years ago (it is probably the same pair). What a treat!

 Dad

Dad takes great photos and makes videos. Here is a video he made of Cayman:

Cayman Thinks Mom is Super Funny

Why I Dive

Even with hundreds of Hawaiian dives under my belt. I frequently see things that scare me and other things that surprise me. Here are two of those things that happened while diving today.

A surprise...

A bit scary (this thing was huge and are known to be very curious and completely unafraid of divers)

Fun with Erin & Cindy

Erin (Shelley's Mom) and Cindy (Cayman's Fairy God Mother) came over to Hawaii to visit and we had a great time touring the island together. Here are some photos of our adventures.

 See Turtles Basking in the Sun

Cayman had a great time playing on the black sand beach.

 Cayman Ready to Explore a Lave Tube Cave

Cayman Smiles at something in the Cloud Forest

Shelley, Cayman, and the King

 A Large Tree we are lunch under

 Shelley & Cindy created some Artwork on the Beach (we erased it before we left)

Our 1st Driving Adventure Map

 Cayman drinking water like a Big Boy

We also went to check out the Manta Rays feeding at night. These cool guys are visible from shore:

Monk Seal

I finished a dive at Pahoehoe and a kid ran up to me asking, "Did you see the seal?" 

"There was a seal?" I asked, "Are you sure?" 

Talking to others on the beach I soon found out that a Hawaiian Monk Seal had beached itself just a minute or so before I did. It looked around, than slipped back into the sea. 

I couldn't believe it. I have been looking for monk seals for a decade and never seen one above or below the water. The Hawaiian Monk Seal is a critically endangered species and the only seal that lives in the Hawaiian Islands. The total population is estimated to be around 1,100 of which maybe 150 inhabit the waters of the main Hawaiian Islands. Of these 150, less than 10 live in the waters around the Big Island (Kauai has the most). 

I was bummed I missed the opportunity, but the next day my luck changed. Again, while exiting a dive, some locals recognized me as the guy who missed the seal and told me the seal was down at Magic Sands, a nearby beach. I drove back to our condo and picked up Shelley and Cayman and we all got to see the beautiful seal. By the evening the seal was gone. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see it again this trip.

Friends & Family

Cayman has been able to meet many family and friends the last few days.

 Mimi (Kendall's Mom)

Grandpa (Kendall's Dad)

Grandma Sparkey (Shelley's Mom)

 Grams (Shelley's Grandma)

 Aunt Jessie (Shelley's Sister)

Aunt Mel

 Auntie

 Cortes Girls

Hawaii 3Cayman's First Birthday

Cayman celebrated his first birthday during our trip to Hawaii. Here are the photos from his celebration and activities.

The day started with a swim in my new boat.

Next we headed to the park were Cayman got to swing with Sparkey and Cindy.

 He also played with a leaf at the park.

His sunset birthday photos did not go well. He was mad when we took away a balloon.

A few days later, Cayman was excited to go hiking.

Hawaii 2: Best Father's Day Ever (TIGER SHARK!)

Since this is my first father's day I realize it automatically the best but today was quite amazing. Erin (grandma) and Cindy C. (fairy god mother) are in town and have been helping us with Cayman.

I started the day diving at Pahoehoe and found a turtle strangely deep eating something under a rock. Looking at the video later, I realized it was a Hawksbill Turtle. Here is the video as well as some fish photos I have taken this last week. 

   

On my second dive I saw a TIGER SHARK! I have never seen one underwater but have obsessed over Hawaii's most dangerous shark for the last decade. In fact, I know divers with 10,000 Hawaii dives who have never seen a tiger shark. These sharks eat turtles and dolphins and certainly have a presence in the water. While kicking out, some other divers were coming in from their dive. "Keep your eyes open, there's kitties out there today," they said. I knew they were talking about tigers and I admit I was terrified. 

I asked about the visibility, "is it murky out there, are they going to sneak up on me?"  

"No. You'll be fine. Just keep your eyes open around 40 to 50 feet." 

I thought about heading back in. I didn't feel completely comfortable facing a tiger shark (which grow up to 18 feet) by myself. But at the same time I really did want to see one. Kind of a bucket list type thing. I started to descend and soon reached the depth they had talked about. I normally swim checking out every fish and hole I can. This dive was different. I rotated my head from side to side, up, and finally behind me looking for something much bigger than the small reef fish. The entire time I keep my fingers on the video shutter button on my camera ready for anything. After 20 minutes I was thinking, "I tried, there is no shame in heading back now." I started to head back but thought again, "No, I have plenty of air. Keep trying." 

I headed deeper to 76 feet of water and then I head a sound. The sound was of a heavy chain clinking in the water. I have head this sound before from videos of other divers seeing this large tiger shark. The chain is connected to a large green buoy marking the entrance to the harbor. Fisherman coming in with their catches throw their waste fish carcasses overboard at this buoy. Overtime, the buoy has become a gathering ground for tiger sharks. 

At this point, I had been underwater for close to 40 minutes and I was again ready to call it quits. Then something funny happened. Several large fish began to move close to me. At least three large jacks and several large surgeonfish swam close to me. This has never happened to me and a moment later, as I scanned the water, I saw it. The shark I saw was around 10 to 12 feet long and had substantial girth and beautiful stripes. The shark looked at me and swam from my right to left side. I pushed the video shutter button and backed up as I filmed. In my head I was thinking of something a spear-fisherman told me years ago, "prey acts like prey, don't act like prey." I kept my eyes on the shark and once it turned to the deep, I steadily began to swim away. I kept looking behind me, but saw nothing. I hugged the bottom on my way back in and eventually reached the small cove where everyone was hanging out.

This was certainly the most exciting dive of my life. Below is the short video that simply documents what I saw. The shark is calm in the video and showing no signs of aggression. It was a beautiful animal to see in the wild and I am glad there are things in nature that scare me. It makes diving interesting.  

For dinner we all headed up the hill to Big Island Brewhaus, a fantastic restaurant. Here is Cayman and I happy at the restaurant.

Hawaii 1: Cayman's Hawaii Adventure Begins

Our journey began Sunday with a long plane ride. Cayman did a great job on the plane with the exception of two loud screams and reaching is tiny arm through the seat to touch the lady sitting in front of us. Overall, he did a great job and really enjoyed looking out the window once beautiful Hawaii was in view. 

Our next day we took care of logistical issues including a problem with the rental car and the room and eventually headed to our favorite park. Cayman had a great time playing on the wooden traditional catamaran and the slide.  

We also spent time at the beach where Cayman enjoyed splashing with mommy and snorkeling with dad.