Last night we drove south to Kailua-Kona where we had booked a nightdrive snorkel trip to see manta rays.
Manta rays feed on plankton, which are attracted by light. So at several spots along the coast bright lights are used to attract the plankton, and thus the mantas.
We had booked a trip with a tour company, but when we arrived we found their boat was out of order--a broken starter motor. Fortunately the company arranged for another tour guide, in a smaller boat (essentially, an inflatable zodiac boat, much like the ones used by Jacques Cousteau) to take us, nine in all.
A little late, we went out just after sunset. After some preliminaries, we jumped in the water.
We were alloffered wetsuits (Calvin declined, Donna accepted) but the ocean water was warm enough that one didn't really need a wetsuit. There were at least half a dozen other boats gathered to see the mantas.
For over an hour we waited and saw nothing. Someone in our boat thought he saw the edge of a manta, but it swam away.
The water was choppy, and several of us from our boat were starting to feel slightly seasick--both of us felt slightly queasy. (The carne asada quesadilla we had for dinner probably didn't help probably.) We got back in the boat and were prepping to go back in when the chant went up--Manta ray!
So we jumped back in the water.
A single ray swam in enough loop-de-loops, scooping plankton into its mouth. It came within a couple feet of the surface, and of the snorklers floating there, apparently used to the presence of humans. It was massive, at least five feet across.
Finally we headed back to shore, our heads full of the ghostly image of the black and white ray. Manta claus had come to town!
I did take some pictures, but the best shots are in some video. I don't seem to have the best software to extract single images so that will have to wait until we return.
