Hawaii3

The next morning we excitedly joined a group of about 20 people for a boat trip to see whales and hopefully even swim with dolphins. The Captain of the boat from Jack’s Diving Locker was named Vito, and he seemed to love his job. Not far from shore we were soon enthralled to hear the songs of humpback whales over an underwater microphone, even before they made their appearance to the eager group in the boat.

It was so amazing that these huge creatures could move with such grace. We relished their beauty and the fluidity of their movements as they breathed and spouted in gentle arcs. They came toward the boat with no fear, though we had stopped at a respectful distance from them. They moved off, and waved goodbye with their gigantic tails. Then dolphins were heard, and finally a pod of active spinner dolphins was spotted off in the distance! How they jumped from the water as if they had springs! They spin many times in fantastically tight revolutions before splashing back onto the ocean’s surface.

The pod was coming in our direction, and I scrambled to get myself into my snorkel gear in time to get into the water with them. I was so excited I found myself bumbling with everything, and couldn’t quite get my act together. A few people were much quicker than Dan and I, and were blessed to have a few minutes of swimming time with the creatures. They were not too interactive, and were probably one step from sleep, which for a pod often means swimming while resting in a bay with a sandy bottom that affords protection from sharks. They swim with one eye open while half of the brain is at rest. After the "close encounter" one man just beamed with joy, it was a first for him, and the dream of a lifetime. We, unfortunately, entered the water after they had swum away. I was a bit dejected, and began to formulate a plan to see if we could charter a smaller boat just for us on another day. This proved to be a very smart decision.

The bleeps and chirps of the dolphins sounded like Rife frequencies to me. There was a definite healing aspect to the energy of the sounds. I’ve been told that the dolphins often gather around kayakers who are ill and seem to offer healing to them. Miracles have occurred from these encounters, and I could accept this easily after connecting with the high vibrational energy of these magnificent beings. I heard their underwater calls as I snorkeled that day, and so hoped that I would have the opportunity to swim with them. We marvelled at the sonorous and beautiful songs of whales from under the water, also, as well as the constant, rather unnerving crunching sounds produced by multitudes of shrimp.

HAWAII: DOLPHIN ACROBAT

We awoke the next day eager to drive down and around the Island’s southern tip to visit Volcanoes National Park, a vast area covering most of the southeastern section of the Island. The Big Island is home to five major volcanoes, three of which are active, and two of these comprise Volcanoes National Park. Mauna Loa and the Kilauea Caldera are both within the park’s boundaries. Kilauea’s ever flowing and erupting lava constantly stretches the park’s boundaries, even as it threatens local communities that choose to spring up on the low cost land that is often swallowed whole by the Goddess Pele as she burns off the chafe of modern civilization and builds the land anew.

Kilauea has been actively erupting for decades. As the world’s youngest volcano, it is also one of the most active. Natural pressure release valves like steam vents and great quantities of rather slowly flowing lava allow the volcano’s activity to be generally less than explosive, which is good news for the great mountain’s many neighbors. Mauna Loa actually forms half of the Big Island, and is the world’s largest volcano. Its summit rises an astounding 56,000 feet from its base on the ocean floor! It has erupted over 30 times in the last 150 years, and it seems to be gearing up for a repeat performance since its last eruption in 1984.

The Big Island’s oldest volcano, Kohala, last erupted probably over 100,000 years ago, and it is considered extinct in geological terms. It makes up the northwestern tip of the Island. Mauna Kea, comprising the entire northernmost section of the Island below Kohala, is the world’s tallest volcano. Its highest slopes, at nearly 14,000 feet, are covered with ice, snow and even glaciers. The Big Island amazingly has myriad climate zones, from arid deserts, to rainforests, to frozen tundra. Basically every major climate zone on earth exists on the Island but permafrost! Mauna Kea last erupted over 4,000 years ago, and is therefore considered dormant at this time.

Hualalai is one of the three active volcanoes on the Big Island, and is the only one that is not within Volcanoes National Park. It formed the lava that Kona’s Keahole airport is built upon, and last erupted around 1800. It comprises a circular area in the middle of the Island’s western coast. Its creative fury will surely be felt again relatively soon, and an eruption is considered eminent in the next 100 years. Shockingly, many of the most exclusive resorts on the Island are located on the western coast within the shadows of this potentially destructive volcano. May future eruptions be gradual so that loss of life is minimized, though loss of valuable property is inevitable. Through fire, lava and ash, Pele will naturally reclaim her territory. next page>>