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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0862.075 2008-2010 1P r x ,, r , .....,„,„ . . ,. rr «rk ..„ ,,,, ,,,.__ ..,„. ....„, ,.,.., ,5„; . ,, ,i 1 . gy p. A ., ,_, „ iii, 41 .V. fre a , Holey -Moley — A Special Fish in My Life While diving down at Place of Refuge many years ago I came across an unusual fish, one which will live in my memory forever. I'd dived in Honaunau Bay many times and felt a special reverence for this pristine and interesting dive site. Pu'u Honua 0' Honaunau National Park is a sacred place for Hawaiians — and each visit brings me a feeling of special significance. Early on, on a visit there with my daughter Stephanie, we exited the water and under the Kiawi trees a warm and friendly Hawaiian family were having a luau, while they played their ukulele's and sang and danced. As we approached their little `get - together' to watch the ohana festivities, one of the kahuna said, "Hey, Uncle Dick, come on over and have some ono grinds "... and we accepted wholeheartedly. Later, when Stephanie was preparing to head back to her Mainland home, she asked, "Dad, does that happen all the time? I mean, those people down at Honaunau are so friendly!" I replied, "Of course! This is Kona, you know ?" But, the fish there are friendly, too. I'll tell you about one in particular Just to the right of `two -step' where we easily enter the water at Place of Refuge, there's a teeny -tiny little bay that can't be more than 20 feet across and indents the shore- line maybe 25 feet. It's shallow, about 10 feet at the deepest point. We always inspect it because it has pukas (holes) in the rock face where numerous surprises often show up, like lobsters, cowry shells, eels, 7 -11 crabs, cleaner shrimp and other small underwater creatures. On one dive in the mid- eighties I caught sight of a long -nosed butterflyfish that appeared rather strange. It was an adult (I could tell by the size) and the black, white, and bright yellow coloration was very distinct. This fish, called the lau-wili- wili - nuku -nuku- oi'oi' in Hawaiian, had a hole completely through it's body. That's right. At first I Cogi onto. � � -� � — • 7 S Ref. To: �7 S �L Ref. Dcte� JU 2 0 2014 thought it was an unusual spot or coloration marking, slightly to the rear of center — then realized I could see through it and out the other side! I was amazed, naturally, and took a closer look. The fish didn't seem to mind my close inspection — it wasn't shy — and I swam with it for several minutes, observing its moves and habits. It wasn't long until I recognized the mate — which was the dominant of the two, telling me the one with the hole was a female. Long -nosed butterflyfish are territorial, that is, they can be found in approximately the same area day after day, week after week, and yes, year after year. So, each time we went diving at Honaunau Bay (Place of Refuge) I'd immediately go ,, over to the same spot - and sure enough, there was "Holey- Moley ", who we'd named for her unusual recognizable defect (if you want to call it that). She seemed no worse for wear because of the hole. Matter of fact, it didn't seem to matter to her one bit. We first spotted Holey -Moley in 1986 - I remember photographing her early on in our relationship. Every time I entered the water in her territory, she and her mate would come over, peek in my mask - as if to say, "Hello, Uncle Dick. What's up ?" It wasn't long until we were feeding her and her uninjured hubby. We'd break open a sea urchin, hold it in our hand, and Holey -Moley would proceed to lunch on `uni' for several minutes. We'd then swim off and continue our dive in the bay at Honaunau. I took several divers there to see my friendly marine life friend — and every single time we visited her territory, she'd be there - and many of my dive `buddies' took still and video photographs of our underwater encounters. This went on for 6 years... then in 1992 on a visit to her territory, she was gone. It was the first time I'd dived there in half -a -dozen years and found her missing. I was crushed, of course, and searched for Holey -Moley all over the bay. No luck. She had been taken — by a predator of the sea — or a tropical fish collector. Whatever... I miss her still, to this day. Not long after her disappearance a prominent Kona Tropical Fish Collector was making a presentation at one of our Dive Club Meetings. At the `question and answer' period I asked him if he knew how long Long -nosed butterflyfishes lived? He said, "Oh, usually no more than a couple years." Well, I had news for him. Our long nosed butterflyfish was an adult when I found her — and lived another 6 years while we observed her. Of course, that was in her natural environment — and Mr. Fish Collector had probably been thinking about `in captivity.' All the more reason to leave these beautiful creatures in their place, and their place is home in the ocean. We asked many `enlightened' marine biologists just how Holey - Moley could develop this hole through her body. None seemed to know the answer... many suggested a spear hole, perhaps. Or a genetic abnormality, caused by pollution, as a possibility. But, really, no one knows what caused this strange situation. I'm glad I was able to record it though. We video taped Holey -Moley and the footage was featured on a Honolulu Newscast in the early nineties — making her famous. She sure won't be forgotten by this diver — and many others who observed her with me. And guess what, each time I dive at Place of Refuge today, I keep an eye out for her... or possibly one of her offspring. You never know! Aloha, Dick the Diver Dick Dresie "Uncle Dick" to my friends "Your Kona Konnection" ><(O( >)))°> ><(O( >)))°> ><(0( ° > The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea. till ‘ Y , � 4 -. l a Photo by Vladimir Kasho - June 28, 1991 "HOLEY - MOLEY" Long -Nose Butterflyfish (Forcipiger Iongirostris) This is a very special Kona fish. The Lau - wili - wili - nuku - nuku -oi'oi (as we call it in Hawaiian) is one beautiful fish and we love finding it, usually in pairs for they, too, mate for life. This particular one, we called her "Holey- Moley" for obvious reasons (she had a hole clear through her beautiful body), we found in 1986 and she was an adult when we first discovered her. We visited her regularly as she was territorial to the max and was always found in the same general area. Holey -Moley watched for us and when we entered the water would rush over to say "Hello" as she peered directly into our mask, inches away. Holey -Moley had no fear of us (we didn't have a spear or net in our hands) and would stick around to see what we were up to. Her mate would join us and look for a 'hand -out'. We would feed the pair from our hand with bits and pieces of sea urchin we'd scooped from the sea bottom. We fed this pair for years, when, to our dismay, Holey -Moley disappeared - probably scooped by a tropical fish collector. Her sad mate hung around for a few weeks, then he was not seen again. This marine -life phenomenon was reported on our Statewide TV network - and I wrote several articles describing our encounters. A local aquarium supplier was asked how long Lau - wili - wili's survived in home or business aquariums? He replied, "Oh, sometimes as long as two years!" Well, we enjoyed Holey Moley until late 1992 - six years after discovering her in the wild. Wouldn't it be nice if we left all the tropical fish where they belong? © Dick Dresie Our thanks to "Uncle Dick ", who publishes LET'S GO SHORE DIVE'N' on the Kona Coast.