Naialani

I took both these pictures on the same day within a hour of each other. I wondered to my self..."Do the dolphins KNOW that there was a rainbow on the water above them?" Do they KNOW just how beautiful the planet is above the water? For some unknown reason I think they do. I am an island gal............

IT was crowded on shore.. its Sunday the beach is busy. I swam out deeper than i usually do because i knew the dolphins, if they came could hear those people on shore and that might make them a little less likely to swim in to shallower water. They appeared out of nowhere, first the moms and the babies, and like I thought they were not comfortable with the noise coming from shore. I manage to get one grainy rough picture of a mom and young baby. The pod of Moms, babies and babysitters didnt linger long they moved on out. Following them was the pod I call the "rowdies" younger males, high energy. LOVE to play. Sure enough, they take one look at me... dove down right next to me proceed to swim UNDER me..... THEN they start swimming around my body in circles. A little nervous at first i quickly relaxed when i saw one of the dolphins had a brown LEAF in his mouth! Can you see it ? rascals, they were playing!! LOLOL... I am an island gal...

My daughter Rayna and I used this cave at the cove as a playground many times. There are certain years that this cave is lined with seaweed and sea moss soooo thick and beautiful it is decadent! I have tried many times in vain to get a picture looking out of this cave onto the land but the morning light just doesnt do this cave justice. Last week on my 100th attempt to capture the picture i see in my mind, i realized i was treading water in a pool of sun. I wondered WHERE the sun was coming from so I looked UP!! I saw this. In ALL my years (and thats alot of years) on this island.. Thru ALL the times I swam in this cave.. I HAVE NEVER LOOKED UP ! SILLY SILLY me ... The fish in the cove must of been having a good chuckle over my silliness... I am an island gal

I met Nancy at the Bay. A petite business woman, she owns a popular resturant here on the island of Oahu. She is a no nonsense, tell it like it is woman and I like her alot. She likes the dolphins but doesnt spend hours waiting for them like yours truly. The pod of dolphins I call "The Big Boys" were in the Bay today. Quiet and BIG in size these male spinners are NOT social butterflies ! Nancy has watched me MANY times try to get a close up look at these guys. I never have.. that is until today. I look over at Nancy while we were in the water and I said, "Nancy call those dolphins over here. Tell them your going on a trip and want to see them before you leave for 2 weeks." Well ,you can imagine my delight when she opened her mouth and out came this voice, you know the little high pitch voice we use when we talk to our pets, "HERE,HERE " she said. I then threw my head back in glee when those dolphins, THE BIG BOYS came right to us. ! I am an island gal...

This turtle and I were swimming along today,he wise and quiet, me talking a mile a minute into my snorkel. All of a sudden he dives toward the sand. Whats he doing ? OH, he sees something to eat! WHATS he got? OMG ITS A BAND-AID discarded by a careless HUMAN! OH NO YOU DONT! I dive down after him, he picks up the band-aid, I feel sick. In a motion I can only explain as reflex ,I start slapping him on the head. "NONONO" I say. He drops the offending piece of HUMAN trash and looks at me like , LADY I AM ON MY LAST NERVE WITH YOU!! Feeling rather dumb I say, "Im sorry, but I cant let you eat that". I stuff the band-aid in my suit and swim to shore. I discard it in a rubbish can grumbling about the carelessness of my fellow man. I think turtles talk to each other... A couple minutes later I came across another turtle. As soon as he sees me, he sits down in the sand and he doesn't move a muscle! He just stared at me as if to say, "LADY if you SLAP me, IM gonna ...

As i sit here typing my bones just ache. My muscles scream everytime i move anything and I think the most prominent thought in my mind is, " I am getting too old to do this." Hours of treading water and swimming in fast bursts is wearing on my body. LOL .. the other alternative is to sit on shore and watch from a distance and that is just not even in any vocabulary I know right now. So i will continue as long as I can to swim among the dolphins. They came again today. I always marvel at the joy they carry with them. Today i saw grown men crying with delight. I saw children wide-eyed with wonder and I felt the water move around me as my friends the dolphins began to play with me. After awhile I looked down at the black screen on my camera and realized my battery was dead. sigh .. The dolphins didnt mind so i continued singing thru my snorkel ,rejoicing that I live on this planet, at this time, in this moment. Reading the blogs I follow I see so much beauty not only in nature...

I was sitting on shore, waiting in my never ending Dolphin Quest.The water showed not one sign of dolphins anywhere in sight for miles. Finally in frustration, I went into the water to see if there was anything interesting going on. The ocean is a beautiful place , but it can also be brutal. I came across this little turtle who had only three fins. I was feeling rather down about it because this little guy didnt look too healthy and I thought wow these guys really live a hard life out here in the ocean. I made my way back to shore and was surprised by the squeaking and chirping I have come to know and love. THERE THEY were DOLPHINS!! LOL I went from sad to glad in a micro second! Some of these guys were big but they were mellow and happy and I so enjoyed hearing and seeing them .I couldnot help but think how i tend to dwell on whats wrong with the world and completely loose focus on whats RIGHT with it ! How extremely lucky we are to live on this blue and green planet ! I am an isla...

The weather above the water is gray and sunless. Its been that way for most of the week. It is a WHOLE different story beneath the surface of the ocean. You almost hear the coral breathing This Blue Parrotfish ? I could HEAR his teeth hitting the coral picking off pieces of food. The Hawaiian word for this fish is "UHU". I had to pretend I was a floating log in order to get this close to this fish ! LOL. The colors on this fish are just magnificent! I took these pictures at a place the locals call 3 Tables. I was looking for Moray eels. BUT as it is with the Ocean, she decides WHO, WHAT, and WHEN you are going to see something! ...LOL I am an island gal......

Teen dies of apparent drowning in Shark's Cove HonoluluAdvertiser .com The Honolulu Advertiser : "A 16-year-old boy who was free diving in Shark's Cove on O'ahu's North Shore yesterday, died of an apparent drowning, authorities said. The teen was discovered by his friends below the surface of the water. He was unresponsive . City and County Emergency Medical Services transported the teenager to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Bryan Cheplic , city EMS spokesman, said that when paramedics arrived, people were performing CPR on the teenager. His name was not released by the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have taken many pictures for this blog at the place where this young man died. My heart breaks for the family of this young person who died way toooo soon. I will take a short break from swimming here out of respect for this young life.