Under the Sea

You knew I would eventually Blip an underwater fish photo, right? Yes, snorkeling is my happy place and I have managed to snorkel a little every day here in Kauai. Most of the places where I have been snorkeling have been very rough and quite difficult to get photos; today the sun was shining on the shallow bay near our condo so I finally got a halfway decent shot. This is a Yellow Fin Surgeon Fish; he was quite large and a fish I seldom see so I wanted to Blip it today.

After snorkeling we went a boat ride up the Wailua River to the fern grotto and then had lunch at our condo before we drove North to Hanalei Bay. Someone on the boat with us said it was a "must see" place and they showed us photos they took there a couple years ago. Well, a lot has changed in that area in a couple years. Last year in the middle April (exactly a year ago last week) there was a freak storm that dropped 50 inches of rain on the Northside of Hanalei Bay; roads, bridges, homes, farm animals were all washed away. In fact, a herd of 200 Bison, which weigh about 1300 pounds, was washed away into the ocean; many had to be rounded up by boat. Landslides and mud flows covered a large area.......it is still a mess. Some homes are still not accessible except by boat or helicopter.....roads are closed because bridges have not been rebuilt.....we couldn't get to the area of the famous pier and beach on the East side of the bay. The area recorded a record 50 inches (120 cm) of rain in one day (24 hours); it now has the record in the US for the most rainfall in 24 hours! Not a record to be proud of! I also read that Kauai has the wettest place in the US ( Mt. Waialeale  in the middle of Kauai gets 460 inches (1168 cm) of rain a year..........I guess we have been lucky.....it has only rained at night since we arrived here....our days have been lovely.