Field Research: Week 1

Feels like I’m long overdue for a post, but I suppose I’ve only been here for a week and a half. My days are so jam packed that I hardly have time for anything besides research. On a typical day I wake up around 7 or 7:30, eat some breakfast, drink some Maui grown coffee, talk data and plans with Emily (my mentor and friend), get my things together for the day, and leave the house between 8:30 and 9. From the house we usually go straight to whichever dive site we are working at for the day – our main three are Olowalu at mile marker 14, Kahekili Herbivore Fishery Management Area (KHFMA), and Kapalua Bay. After setting up our gear and talking about the dive plan, we get into the water. Our dives last anywhere from one to two hours in water shallower than 30 ft – usually closer to the two hour mark. After the first dive we have a surface interval of around an hour when we eat our lunch and warm up for the next dive. Generally, we stay in the water until 4 pm collecting data, either on SCUBA or snorkeling. Right now we’re collecting “fish bite” data, which entails following a fish around for 3 to 5 minutes and recording every single bite it takes and what exactly it eats. Since we’re trying to help out the herbivores of the reef, we’re primarily interested in finding out what impact the herbivorous fishes are having on the surrounding habitat. After a long day of watching the fishes eat, it’s time to go home and cook up something to eat for ourselves! Data entry and conversations follow dinner, and then before I know it, I’m exhausted and ready for bed.

Right now I’m at the “exhausted and ready for bed” part of my day, but I’ve been dying to share some pictures!

For our first 3 days back after hiking Haleakala we stayed with friends, Donna and George. They have a beautiful home just outside of Lahaina, near Launiupoko, with two ohanas, or guest suites. Emily and I shared an ohana with two twin beds, a bathroom, and a kitchenette.

the lanai (patio) of our ohana, overlooking Launiupoko

view of both ohanas at sunset

sunset view from the property

the mountains at sunset

We have since then moved out of the ohana, and into our final place in Honokowai. Research has been a bit tricky with all the moving and inability to fully unpack, but we can finally really get into it in the next few weeks! I’m really excited to be able to spread out and unpack.

Tomorrow morning I plan to explore Lahaina a bit before Emily and I go to yoga, and then we’ll head up to Honolua Bay to help our friend, Darla, with some fish surveys. We have a lot of little errands to run in between, so we’ll have another busy day!

I leave you, now, with pictures from my first week of diving for research. Enjoy.

Emily, cleaning off her cage experiments

our frogfish friend, Pinky

only Pinky can make grumpy look this adorable

a cute, postage-stamp-sized, baby yellow tang, hiding from Pinky

whitemargin nudibranch

Christmas tree (in August) worm

Scenic Maui

I recently downloaded an app on my iPhone that takes awesome panoramic photos. I’ve been playing with it a bit and I love it!

The sky over the ocean after a beautiful Maui sunset

Olowalu – one of our dive sites

Ferns, ferns, ferns!

As promised, photos of the beautiful ferns of Haleakala

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Backpacking Haleakalā

Aloha from Maui!

We returned from Haleakalā late last night, and I was far too exhausted to post anything. Since then I’ve been busy packing and cleaning. Today, we moved from Darla’s place in Kīhei to another friend’s place (Donna and George) on the west coast, in Lahaina. We also ran a few more errands – yay errands! We’ll be moving into our more permanent temporary residence (dubbed the Smith Lab Interim Maui Extension Office – SLIMEO) in Honokowai on August 9th.

Back to updates – backpacking in Haleakalā was amazing! Altogether there were 7 of us. We stayed in a cabin one night and in tents the second night, and we hiked all over in between. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire time, and the views were phenomenal!

Darla, me, Levi, Niko, Mark, Jeff, and Emily

Our morning started out rather relaxed – we finished packing, grabbed breakfast, and then headed out for a late start around noon. We started out our descent into the crater on the Sliding Sands trail (~6 miles) to get to our first destination – the Kapalaoa cabin. We played some bocce ball along the way and took our time getting there. We arrived around sunset and spent some time admiring the endangered Hawaiian geese (also Hawaii’s state bird), Nēnē. Our arrival was followed shortly by a few more quick bocce games before dark. Before bed, we cooked a delicious veggie pasta dinner along with some cheese and crackers. I’ll admit, it was a pretty fancy dinner for camping.

Silversword – an endemic Hawaiian plant

The next day we woke up early and cleaned up the cabin. Oatmeal was the main item on the breakfast menu, accompanied by some apples and trail mix. We played a few more games of bocce after breakfast and spent more time hanging out with the wild Nēnē. Before leaving we cooked up some veggies and quinoa (to serve as that night’s dinner since we didn’t bring along a camp stove/ supplies), packed up, and hit the trail for our next destination – the Hōlua campsite.

 

The hike to Hōlua was unlike any I’ve ever taken. The landscape was absolutely unreal. We stopped a few times on the way for lunch (almond butter and honey sandwiches) and snacks – and of course, a few games of bocce ball!

 

Upon our arrival, we freshened up, renewed our water sources, and relaxed – and played more bocce ball! After some relaxation, and a yummy dinner of veggies and quinoa with more cheese and crackers, we set up the tents at the campsite. After changing into warm clothes and settling into the tents, we gathered in our biggest tent and played a few intense (or in-tents – get it?) games of UNO before getting some sleep.

The next morning I woke up to see the sunrise. It wasn’t the most spectacular I’ve ever seen, since the clouds blocked a lot of it, but it was still pretty amazing. Unfortunately I didn’t get any good pictures. The more amazing part of the sunrise was the full moon setting on the other side of the sky. After sunrise we took our sweet time eating a breakfast of snacks, packing up, and breaking down camp. We were all sore and fatigued after two days of hiking on sandy trails, so we stretched out and warmed up our muscles before hitting our last trail home.

 

 

We took the switchbacks of the Halemauʻu Trail (~ 4 miles/ 1000ft vertical) back up to the lot where we parked the cars. It was beautiful, lush, green mountainside with innumerable ferns! Ferns everywhere! Now, if you know about my (somewhat) recent trips to Australia and New Zealand, you probably know that I’m a little obsessed with ferns. I have no idea what it is about them, but I love them. I plan to dedicate an entire post to the red ferns of Haleakalā.

 

 

Upon my return to the car, I was able to give myself a quick wet-wipe shower and change into some reasonably clean clothes. On the way down the mountain we made a quick stop at Hosmer Grove to see some non-native forest trees and some endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers (cute birds with specialized beaks, sometimes referred to as “Hawaiian finches”), and we stopped for dinner at the Kula Lodge. 

The main thing I learned from this trip – marine scientists love to play bocce ball! This trip was a great way to get to know all of the people who I will be working with in the field for the next month and a half.

Work starts bright and early tomorrow morning! Wish me luck!

First day on the island

My Maui welcome was fantastic. There’s something about the smell of the Maui airport when I step off the plane that makes me feel like I’m coming home. I was greeted by my smiley mentor, Emily, who brought me a lovely tuberose lei and FOOD! Perfect, considering how smelly and hungry I was!

We went straight from the airport to run errands – Costco and Wal-mart for food and supplies – and then headed to a coffee shop and back to the house. After settling in a little at our friend Darla’s place, we took a walk along the beach and ran into the coolest pups!

Today we’re off to Haleakalā to camp for a few days before we hit the water. More updates to come soon!

Aloha!

“Table for one…”

My adventure began early this morning. Flew out of SD at 7:45 and now I’m sitting in LAX waiting for my next flight to board. I can’t figure out how to make the LAX wifi work on my laptop, so I’m using my phone’s connection.

I woke up with terrible anxiety this morning. Last time I flew it was home from New Zealand and that was not the best day… Let’s just say missing a flight isn’t the best way to start a 20-hour trip home.

I didn’t eat this morning because of all the knots in my stomach, so I was starving when I got off the plane in LA! I grabbed some breakfast tacos from Chili’s to go. Pretty decent for $10 airport food.

I had a bit of a wait between flights, so I set up camp at the gate.

Now I’m off to Kahului, Maui!

Aloha!

(Oh hey, check out the Quantas plane in the background! Australia again, anyone?)