Papakolea Beach

My son and I made the trek to Papakolea Beach today. This beach has sparkling green sand because the surrounding rock contains olivine. It was an hour-long drive from our place in Kailua-Kona down to South Point, followed by a walk along the coast. The walk was three miles over uneven terrain, and it was hot, extremely windy, and dusty/dry because it's a desert, right along the Pacific Ocean coast. And because it's a desert, there was only dry grass, no trees, no shade. My son and I sunburn easily; we repeatedly applied sunscreen and he still came away with sunburned arms. I fared better.

This is a small beach

Red Boulder in Green Sand

Green/Brown Sand

This shot shows the whole beach

From a distance, the sand looks brown. Up close, it's absolutely a sparkling green. There were lots of people on the trail, and a few trucks driven by locals who charged tourists for the ride to/from the beach. So, long walk, uncomfortable conditions, cool, unique beach, and it was worth the trip.

Nene

Last year on Maui my son and I hiked through the Haleakala crater. It was miles of arid, desolate landscape, walking on loose cinders. Eventually the footing became more solid in the part of the crater that gets much more rain. We reached a grassy area with a park service hut, which campers can rent. As we rested, a pair of Hawaiian geese, or nenes, to use the Hawaiian word for the birds, walked up to us. A third joined shortly thereafter, only to be shooed off by the first two. I left my heavy DSLR behind for this long hike and only had my phone to photograph them. Ever since that encounter, I've wanted to photograph them properly.

Well, on this trip to the big island, I've had my chance. While visiting Punalu'u beach, I saw several nenes along the side of the road by a golf course. I stopped the car, got my camera, and spent several minutes with them.

Nene

 When I first saw them years ago (during yet another Hawaiian trip), I thought they looked like the Canada Goose. I think I've read that the two species are related, with the theory that the nene is a divergent species after vagrants landed in and stayed in the islands. Their feet are only partially-webbed because they no longer need to swim. And those bands on their necks are unique.

Distinctive Neck Pattern

In fact, I made a point of trying to capture some neck detail in some of the photos. The bill also seems shorter than that of the Canadian goose.

Banded Legs

As with just about every endemic animal on Hawaii, the population crashed with the arrival of Europeans, and these animals are protected by law. The active conservation program includes capture and banding, which has obviously happened to this bird. In fact, every nene I've seen had banded legs, except for the one shown in the first photo above.

The nenes that I saw on Maui, and these on the big island, seemed to have no fear of humans, so it was easy to get quite close to them (but not too close, because that would be harassment, which is illegal). The birds on Maui approached to within a few feet of my son and me as we sat on a bench. These on the road by the golf course were also curious, looking at me and even approaching me as i photographed them.

Green Sea Turtles

I'm on a trip to Hawaii's Big Island. I've been here before, but was disappointed by my bad luck finding the famous Green Sea Turtles. I'm having much better luck this time. Punalu'u Beach, famous for its black sand, is a spot for frequent turtle basking. We stopped for a side trip while driving past. When we arrived, there were dozens of people on the nearby beach, standing near a pair of turtles.

Basking on Punalu'u Beach

There's not a lot of action when they're basking. I spent a few minutes photographing and watching and moved along, happy to have finally seen them.

Later during this trip I visited a beach near Kailua-Kona. There were four turtles swimming in tidal pools. Their shells were easy to spot in the shallow water. Occasionally one of them would raise a head to breathe. But it wasn't possible to get good photographs because all I'd see was a bit of the shell. I wish I had brought a polarizing filter. Farther along on the sandy beach, I found a pair of turtles on the sand.

Basking on the beach at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park

One of the turtles had the number 14 painted on its shell; there was no number on the other one. Again, not much action, other than the man in a ridiculously colorful and tight Speedo who came hustling up to us as my son and I approached the turtles. I think he was about to berate us for turtle harassment until he realized that we were keeping a respectful distance from the turtles. He stood there silently, pretending to watch the turtles when in fact he was watching us, and finally after a few minutes he went back the way he had come, having never said a word to us. Maybe we disappointed him by giving him no reason to scold us.

Green Sea Turtle

My son and I sat on the sand about 20 feet away from the turtles and just enjoyed the setting sun and the breeze. The turtles would occasionally move their heads and flippers and eyelids. One of them finally opened its eyes long enough for me to get a shot.

Eyeing Us

There are warning signs on every sandy beach that I've visited here informing people of the requirement to stay away from these large, endangered animals. I was able to get some very tight shots of them using my 300mm lens from a respectful distance.

On the Rocks

I returned to the same beach near Kailua-Kona for a total of three sunset visits. I saw turtle number 14 on all three trips. Each time, there were several turtles in shallow water, in pools in the lava rock. On my last trip, the tide was out, revealing much more rock and much more sand. There were at least six turtles swimming in the shallow pools, including number 89 and number 101, as well as several that were not numbered.

Green Shell? Or Green Slime on the Shell?

They mostly just rested motionless, with only occasional eyelid opening or head movements. Even in the water there wasn't much movement, just slow movement looking for and eating plants. I could see them feeding in the clear water in the shallow pools.

Fleeting Eye Openings

 This turtle below was resting on the rocks, unlike all the previous times when I'd seen turtles on the sand. This was also a cloudy evening; they weren't soaking any heat in.

On the Rocks

Green Sea Turtles ingest a lot of salt water. Their bodies have the ability to remove the excess salt through glands near their eyes. When they've been out of the seawater for a while, the salt dries and cakes below their eyes, making for a messy mixture of salt and sand on their faces.

Salty Sandy Face