Sea Turtles in the Splash Zone


  New Years started off with a bang for me here in Oahu. After some traditional new years food with friends Heidi and I grabbed our snorkel gear and headed to the east side of the island for some ocean time. There is always something so satisfying about being in the ocean. The day before I had led a tour along the southeast side of the island and the winds were being blocked by the island, opposite of what usually happens. This weather condition made flat calm conditions on the ocean's surface all along the east coast, opening up tons of snorkel and underwater photography locations that are usually too blown out by the trade winds.


We trekked down to one of our favorite east coast dive spots at the Halona blowhole. Just beside the blowhole overlook there is a path down to a secret beach called Eternity Beach. Locals call it cockroach cove but I've never seen a cockroach there. Luckily the weather conditions were the same as the day before. The water felt a bit cooler, around 73 degrees but we jumped in without too much hesitation.....cough cough nudge nudge, Heidi.

   Just outside the small cove I found my first turtle. It was the first of many. The water clarity was very clear, and most of the turtles were near the surface feeding on the shallow algae. Being near the surface meant a lot of light, and an unusual amount of color made it into the pictures. The warm reds of the algae covering the rocks provides a wonderful contrast with the deep blues looking back towards the open ocean. The turtles didn't seem to mind their pictures being taken, possibly because they were so intent on feeding time.

  A few times the turtles drew me in very close to the cliffs and some bigger waves would crash above sending white water all around us. The turtle would disappear from sight, only to reappear looking completely unfazed. They are so graceful and fun to watch underwater. Sea turtles really are one of my favorite underwater photo subjects.

http://www.daimarsphotos.com/Animals/Sea-Turtles/

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