Kona Condo

The feds say 'kohola doin' mo betta'

(Above, a surfacing humpback in Maui from a 2008 posting on OurKonaCondo.com)

 

Actually, the language was way more bureaucratic than that, of course.

There be recent news from the Mainland about humpback whales. The notion is that in Hawaiian waters, the humpback whale no longer needs the protection of the endangered species act.

A 90 day public comment period has commenced, according to Caleb Jones of the Associated Press, who covered the federal “blah blah blah blickety blick” on behalf of most of what’s left of the nation’s newspapers.

Here’s the Christian Science Monitor’s link to the the story: Save the whales? Why the humpback doesn't need protecting anymore.

Learn more about the Hawaiian Island’s population of humpbacks (kohola for you purists) at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary  Web site.

Check out an artist rendering of said humpies in Alaska by a noted artist who is so noted, he goes by only one name: Holiday greetings from Wyland.

And finally, for your planning purposes for the (cough, cough) booking of OurKonaCondo.com, the whale watching season in Hawaii runs roughly from December to May. For more info on the season and the watching of whales in general, check out Whale Watching in Hawaii, courtesy of GoHawaii.com.

 

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DONATED WYLAND MURAL AT RISK

The wheels of government are reportedly grinding on a famous mural by our favorite Californa/Hawaii artist: Wyland.

A recent missive from the artist notes that the target is his famous  "Orcas Off Point Loma" mural at the Plunge, an indoor swimming pool in San Diego's Mission Beach.

The 140 feet long, 40 feet high artwork was painted and donated by Wyland to the City of San Diego in 1989.

This cool piece of Orca art could be in jeopardy, thanks to a recent vote by the California Coastal Commission, according to the Wyland Currents Newsletter.

The commission vote to approve adding three rooftop decks and an elevator means part of the mural must go.

Wyland's foundation is now currently working with the developer and the city preserve the mural, one of 100 that the artist has donated worldwide in more than 15 countries.

Wyland says his organization is  "deeply appreciative of the many fans who continue to support the legacy of these artworks and the Wyland organization's efforts for conservation and education."


The powers-that-be to contact:

San Diego Council member [email protected], Pacifica Real Estate in Rancho Santa Fe, California, or the California Coastal Commission, San Diego Office.

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STILL de best snorkel beach on the Big Island

In the space of a few minutes, where else can one view a stone's throw from shore, numerous green sea turtles, the state fish the humuhumunu, etc., schools of ravenous convict tang and scores of others but Kahalu'u?

Oh, there are most likely a few, but not many within minutes of OurKonaCondo.

Speaking of which, stay tuned for some exciting news from these parts and in the meantime, please enjoy these snaps of our fellow Earth beings.

What are you looking at, fishface?

It's a jailbreak youse mugs, everybody follow me... No, follow me....No, me... No, wait, here come de Five-Oh...

Hey everybody, wait for me. Guys! Wait up!.

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Leave it to an endangered species...

...to screw up what could have been a perfectly good early morning dive on the Big Island.

(Actually, there was human error also involved, along with a message from the "Dive Gods that also kept out out of the water). But, I'd rather blame this federally protected sea dog, uh, monk seal, instead.

The plan was to get up ahead of the crowds early on this particular day with our dive buddy Bob to make a shore dive here at Old Airport.

 

Upon evaluating the rather docile shore entry (minimal surf), we noticed something big in the water swimming with great enthusiasm.

 

Eventually, the thing surfaced, revealing itself to be one of the handful of Hawaiian monk seals that inhabit the Big Island (Sorry folks, this is as good a picture as we got). The meeker amonsgt us chose it as an excuse to avoid attempting the entry, as, it's against federal law to even LOOK at one (hyperbole for effect).

Though some among us were thrilled at the sighting, a yellow tang certainly wasn't, as it happened to be the object of the monk's furious thrashing about. The monk surfaced with the unhappy yellow critter in its mouth, before proceeding to chomp it down with a bit if difficulty. Mr. Tang, it should be noted, did not go quietly into that good night.

Monk didn't seemed too disturbed at our appearance, even rising up to the surface near shore to gaze at us, gazing at him. I knew he'd move away, once I ran to get my camera, and, true to form, he moved out a great distance, hence the lousy shot.

Bob called a buddy of his who studies such things to alert him of the unusual sighting, and we waited for Mr. Monk to head on his way.

Once it did, we set about gearing up for the dive, or attempting to, anyway, as one of us, who shall be unnamed, conveniently and suspiciously forgot their wet suit. I was the lucky one sent back to retrieve it, to end the excuse not to shore dive for the moment.

However, during Take Three of the attempt to shore dive at Old Airport, there arose a huge hissing sound from one of our regulators. The noise appeared to emanate from inside one of 'em, indicating a blown "o" ring of some kind, and, with no spares, that pretty much indicated that the Dive Gods did not want us going in here on this particular day.

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Another view on the 'vog'

Vapor is seen rising on the trail around Halemaumau Crater, on Hawaii's Big Island. | Photo by Kirk Lee Aeder, with permission from Hawaii Tourism Authority

Leave it to the folks at the Big Island Visitors Bureau to put a more positive spin on this Vog situation.

Their take: The tradewinds are blowing all the big bad old 'vog' off the island, and it's a great time to get out there and view an honest to goodness active volcano.

The latest news from our favorite Hawaiian Island: "The dramatic plume of gas that has been gushing from a vent in the crater wall since March 11th has turned from fluffy white to dusky brown. This indicates that ash has somehow bled into the plume, which is now rising up to a mile above the crater, according to scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)"

There are a few weeks available here in June at Kona Condo, Kona Isle C31, and July and August are wide open.

Okay, look, we don't believe in sugar coating things. While our accommodations are extremely reasonable priced, you may have to bust open the piggy bank to pay for the air fare these days.

But, as a good friend of ours is fond of saying: "You only go around once, and this is the once."

 

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We've got 'vog' yes we do

No getting around the facts here.  There is indeed an active volcano on the Big Island, and lately, it's been picking up steam.

The Kona Condo, fortunately, is on the other side of the Big Island.

That doesn't mean we aren't immune from the effects.

Kilauea's been erupting (slowly for the most part) since 1983.

But, the AP dispatch carries the latest info about the effects since mid-March, when another vent opened at the summit, pretty much doubling the output of the volcanic gases (sulfur dioxide mostly).

Short term periods of exposure aren't too big a deal, and the advice for the more sensitive is to stay indoors.

Long term, hey, you can always visit L.A., or Beijing, and get the same aerial treatment, and, in our opinion, much less lovely views.

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Not too late to see humpback whales

 

Whales are spouting all around the Hawaiian Islands these days.

And, they promise to be around for a few more months.

Though we spotted these friendlies off Maui recently, you can also sight them off the Kona Coast!

Be there. Aloha!

We tried to embed a video, but couldn't make this Typepad dealie workie, so, here's a link to some of the video we gathered from the same Bon Voyage.

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Hawaiian tree care primer

So, you might be wondering, just how the trees on the grounds of Kona Isle stay so doggone tidy looking alla time.

(Or not. Myself, I thought it was either Menehune or Night Marchers who took care of it... For more about the Menehune, go here to see what the Wiki Wiki people say. If you dare, here's more about the Night Marchers.)

A look at the above picture shows you the palm trees visible from the lania of Kona Isle C31 are all trimmed tidy and nice.

That means, no unsightly hanging, dead fronds, or tiny pockets of seed pods waving their ugly brown and yellow bits of business in the ocean breeze.

But, lookie here, more closely.  Can you detect the secret weapon in the fight against island overgrowth?

Maybe this next picture will help bring things into mo bettah focus. Or maybe not. It is of course, time for a word from our muy barato sponsors.

So, that there, the guy way up in the air, like Bruddah Iz' proverbial "Hawaiian Superman," is a brave worker from the Mother Earth, Father Time Tree Service here in Kona.

He climbed all the way up, using those steel ring dealies around his feets, and a safety line, then, pulls out the machete knife and works his magic.

We here at C31 salute him and the rest of the company's crew for their diligence, hard worker and Aloha can-do spirit.

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Nene

This post is dedicated to nene, the native goose once hunted to near-extinction on the Hawaiian Islands. These nene are alive, well, and free of the hazards of human hunting.  (Note tags).

You'll find these particular nene at Big Island Country Club, Big Island, Hawaii, where they make up a considerable gallery of birds who, at times, will hoot and honk at your duffed shots on the Pete and Perry Dye track.

More background about the nene, courtesy of the environmental web site  ARKive.org:  Nene was adopted as the official bird of Hawaii in 1957, and a notable feature is relatively long legs. These enable nene to go mobile over rugged terrain such as lava fields. Accordingly, they hike about minus the waddle typical of other geese (or, your garden variety tubby cat).

Nene, yet another good reason. Learn about about a Big Island vacation rental. Don't forget, you're always welcome here.

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