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Mau'i Day Nine

On Day Nine of our vacation, we undertook another snorkel trip, this time to the knoll of Molokini, off Mau'i's southwestern shore.

We were taken to Molokini by the Ocean Spirit, the flagship of the Pacific Whale Foundation. The cool thing about the Ocean Spirit is that it runs on vegetable oil, not diesel, that is collected from local restaurants. So it was an environmentally friendly, as well as non-diesel-smelling, trip to the Molokini knoll.

From our guidebook: "This aquatic wonder was created when an undersea vent, held under pressure bythe ocean's weight, busted loose with lava and ash, building up what we call a tuff cone. The northern half has been eroded away by wave action, creating a semi-circular reef far enough offshore to be clear of runoff or sand. So underwater visibility is nearly always 100 feet, sometimes 180."

They weren't kidding. While we neglected scenery shots to and from Molokini on the boat, we got some spectacular underwater shots, thanks to that famed visibility mentioned above. Enjoy.


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Looking toward the rising knoll of Molokini from beneath the surface.

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A shot of our stern anchor line, with some of the fish milling about.

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A cool shot of the sea floor. This will make a great desktop picture, at least if I can get Wolf's scanned images to resize properly...

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Some of the gorgeous fish that congregated about us.

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Members of our crew amused themselves by diving to the sea floor while looking out for us...

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In the midst of a school...

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Just right of center, you'll see a light blue stick. That's a fish. While the name escapes me, I learned from our crew that it is a predatory fish.

It will lie in wait near the ocean floor by raising its tail vertically, so that it looks like a stick rising from the floor. When a smaller fish swims by, CHOMP! DINNER!

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A variety of fish swimming near the sea floor.

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"If only we were sharks, if only we were sharks..."

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"I don't want to go anywhere near that stick fish...where did he go?"

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That little dot just left of center is a fish, believe it or not.

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I really enjoyed the shifting colors and textures of the ocean floor. Another desktop picture candidate.

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Another pic looking out at the sea floor, only this time we have fish in the shot!

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Bringing up the rear of the school...

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Another shot from within the small school.

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Kelly diving down...

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Who's going to blink first? Who will swerve out of the way?

They're not the "chicken" of the sea for nothing...


You can go back to Day Eight.

You can go on to Day Ten.

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