The tour of the Na Pali coast was pretty cool. There were some beaches that are only accessible by kayak with hippies doing yoga on them. We came across a large group of spinner dolphins, which swam right beside our boat.
The boat then set off for Lehua, an island about an hour’s boat ride from Kauai. Either Lehua or the island next to it is private, bought by some super-religious folks who wanted a controlled (read: non-pagan) environment for their daughters to grow up in. I’m not sure how the daughters turned out, but the snorkling off Lehua was great. The spot we anchored at had a reef formation (as well as a mini-cave) that sloped down the side of the island, so there were spots a few feet deep all the way down to perhaps 100 to 150 feet deep. That spot probably had the best visibility of any water I’ve ever been in. You could easily see all the way to the bottom of the deepest part (the guides said at Lehua 80 feet visibility is a bad day). A highlight was when out of the clear blue swam a green turtle. He swam up for a picture, then mozied (turtles mozy) on by. We also saw the monk seal that we were told usually hangs out there, swimming about 60 feet below the surface. There are 30 monk seals in the Kauai area (out of some 1300 total remaining worldwide), and our guide explained they’re endangered and probably won’t be there in another 15 years.
As we were pulling out of the snorkel spot, the captain came on the megaphone and said, “Whale shark…guys…whale shark.” His voice was at normal volume, but contained a subdued excitement. Still, the captain had been pointing out various marine life all day, so I wasn’t sure if it was significant or not. I realized it was a big deal from the crew’s reaction. As soon as the announcement was made, their faces showed urgency, and they rushed ahead of all the guests (whom they had previously been waiting on hand and foot) to get to the bow of the ship. I headed to the bow myself, and after the captain explained it was 1.5 boat lengths in front of us on the left, I saw it: a gigantic gray blob just below the surface of the water. I knew it was a whale shark from the announcement, but my mind categorized it as a whale, as that is the only category of necessary size in which I could place it. It turned around and swam to the back of our boat. When I turned around, I saw 3 crew members already in the water with masks on, surrounding the behemoth. They each were petting it, and one grabbed its back fin and briefly rode it. They started hollering for guests to toss them their waterproof cameras for pictures, which a lucky few did (I was late). As the crew climbed into the boat, the captain said the guests could get in the water for a once in a lifetime experience. Kelly, I, and 3 others grabbed our masks and scampered into the water behind the only crew member who hadn’t yet been in the water with it. I was just behind the crew member, and swam out to where he was positioned (I was the first to get there). Under the water, he pointed to the shark. I saw the spots along the thin part leading to the tail, and could make out the gigantic gray blob of his entire form. I had grabbed my camera, but I wasn’t close enough for a shot that would show anything. By the time everyone else got to where the instructor was, the shark had moved on. Damn! I would love to have pet it.
It turns out spotting a whale shark is extremely rare. Each crew member had seen them an average of 3 times in their careers, and the last spotting for each averaged 1 to 2 years ago. So we were extremely lucky to have come upon one that day. As you may have guessed, whale sharks are a filter fish, don’t have teeth, and aren’t dangerous (tell that to the krill). Though once I saw the 3 crew members dive in on a moment’s notice, I knew it was harmless without having to be told. Kelly and I kept wondering what would have happened if that shark had shown up moments before and we had swum upon it during our snorkel hour. Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean. This one was 30 feet long and “whale-like” is the only way I can do justice to the girth. Would we have panicked? Thrashed and swum away? One thing is for sure, an effeminate scream would have been heard from the end of my snorkel.
The hour-long boat ride back was an “E ticket ride”, as the captain explained, then realized most people don’t know what that means anymore. The open ocean had gotten rough, and we bounced through the waves to get home. When a particularly big swell would come along, the captain would have to lay off the throttle momentarily, before ramping it back up again. I made the mistake of trying to grab a cookie from the counter and get back to my seat. I lost my footing, but hurt nothing but my pride.
That night, we picked up an unbelievably good pizza from Pizza Hanalei and went to sleep before the sun went down. We were exhausted.
