Last night we went on the Manta Night Snorkel I talked about in the last post. It was a pretty unreal experience. The rays, with wingspans up to twelve feet or so would start below the gathered snorkelers (due to the light which was bringing plankton, their food, to the surface), and then loop up to near the surface in a 360 degree arc, and repeat. During their arcs, they rays would frequently come within an inch of the snorkelers. From up close you can see right into their maws, which extent for around a foot. We have a bunch of photos on film from a disposable underwater camera, though due to the lighting conditions there's no guarantee they'll turn out. Fingers crossed.
Today we tried snorkelling at Kahaluu Bay, which though a little crowded had a lot fish including a bunch I'd never seen before. There was also a small turtle sunning itself in the shallows, and getting a lot of attention from the tourists. One of my favourites in the fish department was the Moorish Idol, which seemed to often be found in pairs.
Tomorrow we're going on a twelve hour bus tour around pretty much the entire island, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the area around the Hilo side.
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