Alan Nelson's Daily Commentary for 15 September 1999

Hilo to Kona, Big Island, Hawaii

We await the reawakening of the volcano. And the wait continues. We stopped at the park to get the latest story. According to the volcanologists, the earthquakes that started at 1 AM on the 12th did indeed expand some of the underground chambers. Those chambers continue to fill up and as soon as they are full they will again start to overflow as lava. Still no guess as to exactly when that might be.

So we hiked through an old lava tube instead. There is an easily accessible section with electric lights and paved trail. At the end, we found an unlocked gate welcoming visitors to explore the other 334 meters of the lava tube that remain undeveloped. So we went back to the car for our flashlights and hiking boots. Then into the darkness. With a flash on the camera, and a little bit of help from Photoshop, this is apparently what the walls would look like if they were well illuminated. We can't really vouch for this picture's authenticity. We had our eyes closed when the flash went off so that we wouldn't get blinded by the light. Our flashlights were not bright enough to see the walls this well!

Here is a small ledge in the tube, showing a grey crust on top (about 2" thick) with other colors in the layers below. The walls and floor of the tube were remarkably smooth with only a few breaks like this in the entire 334 meter length (we didn't measure it--just read the sign!) There were two places where the ceiling had collapsed, leaving a pile of rubble on the floor. At the end of the tube, the floor stayed approximately level and the ceiling dipped down to floor level over a span of about 50 feet. Then the ceiling met the floor and the tube was no more. It was a fun bit of low-risk spelunking. A few times we turned the flashlights off just to experience the darkness of a cave. It was indeed black!

We then headed west towards the Kona side of the Big Island. We stopped off at the black sand beach on the southern coast, just to compare it with the black sand beach from yesterday. We were greeted by a sign that explained that the Hawaiian Green Turtle frequented this part of the island and would sometimes climb out of the water and "bask".

This was not a turtle behavior that I had heard of before. But while walking across the beach, here was a basking turtle not 50 meters from the sign! I had to watch it for several minutes before it moved. It was indeed alive. Wasn't bothered by being several steps away nor by the young kids playing in the waves and occasionally running closer to it than I was. I had hoped to see a turtle while snorkeling. Can't decide whether this is better.

Here is a bit closer view with the rocks and waves in the background. Seems like I could have taken this picture with a black-and-white camera. A fun encounter with an endangered species.

I went snorkeling in the bay for a short while. Not as much variety in the fish as I had grown accustomed to in the Kwajalein Atoll. However, I found more fish over a foot long here than I did at Kwaj. There was one peculiar aspect to the water in this bay. There was a very active fresh-water spring in the area. The fresh water was quite cold. The salt water from the ocean was much warmer. But the cold water was on the top. So to stay warm, I needed to stay underwater. That wasn't really a satisfactory solution!

Normally, cold water sinks below warm water because it more dense. However, salt water is more dense than fresh water. In this particular bay, warm salt water is more dense than cold fresh water. As I got farther away from the shore, the layers began to mix and they weren't as obvious.

I was unable to get my modem to function with the phone system at my hotel in Hilo. Hence, the several-day delay since a journal entry. I am hoping to make it work with the phone in Kona. I will try it now.....

Alan Nelson