One of my fondest memories growing up in Connecticut is the way the world wakes up in the summer. Since moving to Hawaii 5 years ago, I’ve dearly missed using overly hot, muggy days as an excuse to find a body of water and just jump in. In addition to its coastline, Connecticut has a multitude of lakes, ponds and rivers to keep a growing biologist busy and out of trouble. I have always wanted to take what I have since learned back to my home state and explore with my new set of eyes. Last week, I got just that chance. I only had six days to fit in all that I wanted to do, so tie flew by. During that week, I chased countless largemouth bass and sunfish through ponds of milfoil and lily-pads, watched as schools of stripers raced past me at sunrise and I even brought my obsession with sharks along for an especially wild encounter (click here for more on blue sharks). And of course I spent some quality time with the family. Somehow I managed to fit it all in less than a week.
If finishing my thesis was the only thing happening in my life right now, stagnancy would kill me long before I got to printing a draft. I have learned to take activity breaks as a coping mechanism to keep from injuring myself for fun. In elementary school, it might be called recess, except my recesses often involve large animals or plunging unseen depths. I try to make the most of the allotted time I have outside. For example, I found myself in need of some fresh shark images for a proj... Continue reading...
After a couple of months of government mandated radio silence, I'm starting to catch up. My outboard is now fixed, new photos and sections are up all over my webpage, and my thesis is back on track so today I decided to take some time off to go play. I love it when Matt calls me up because it usually means he has found something underwater and needs pictures of it. Last time it was an airplane and this time it was, well, another airplane.
The first adventure with Matt found little more ...
Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) resting on the fantail of the YO-257 A century of maritime history, military occupation and artificial reefing has left Oahu's sea floor generously sprinkled with metallic relics from the past. I don't pretend to know much about these submerged artifacts, but if you dive Oahu enough, you're bound to stumble across some form of interesting man-made litter. For whatever reason (aligned stars, voodoo, or just dumb luck) this past month has been especially ri... Continue reading...
When the anti-Jesus is born and your house is surrounded by hell-fires this 2012, where will you go to watch armies of mythical creatures battle it out with the invading demons? Perhaps you have a tranquil stream in your backyard or a spot in your living room where the AC is particularly refreshing to await the inevitable hordes of zombies coming to eat your brains. While you are huddled in the corner of your bedroom watching wussy unicorns get wedgies from short red men with horns, I, pr... Continue reading...
From big animals on picturesque reefs to the world-famous manta dive and now the mind-boggling blackwater dive, Kona maintains a monopoly on Hawaiian style diving. Taking a cue from the alien pelagic environment, I've recently been working with Gabe and Drew at Kaimana Divers to bring the alien world of Blackwater to Oahu. I pitched the idea and they picked up the torch on just about everything else. Come Sunday night, we'd be headed out of Waianae to emba...
