Intern Account: Louise:
"During the surveys on Oahu, the logistics were less complicated and most of the field equipment was left at the Bishop Museum since we were operating from our home island. Yet the boat rides were just as lengthy, because our access points were far from our destinations. I learned yet another valuable lesson: never ever drink a foamy mocha latte before entering high swells in a small craft. Not only was I queasy the entire ride, I was finally relieved of my latte half way through the second dive. The first survey was around the flat islet close to Makapu Beach, christened Kaohikaipu. As for algal abundance- it was a barren wasteland. I came across very few species of macroalgae and occasionally cyanobacteria. The ebb and tide and swell and current pushed and pulled us in every direction as we conducted our surveys. The invert-fish team encountered a friendly octopus on their recon dive. The algal-fish team did not have any exciting flora or fauna encounters and so I lived vicariously through their post-dive tall tales. After all, it is difficult to be amused by turf algae when in the field- the lab is a different story… Our dives on the makai side of the islet Kapapa were eerie, because the visibility was not ideal and I felt very close the island’s ledge. It’s difficult to explain, but I felt as if large entities were all around me which I could not see. Despite the uncanny aura of the place, it was the ultimate ‘garden of eden’ of algae. This was the most diverse site which I visited for this project. I was captivated: some were frilly, some gelatinous, some psychedelic, some calcified, some slimy….I sampled from them all to take back to the lab. The diversity was astounding, and I was kept very busy with the plethora of floral species. However, I did notice that the coral in this area was also healthy and abundant, growing to sizes I rarely witness."

Intern Account: Melanie:
"The Oahu Islets were interesting underwater and not really what I expected to see. We surveyed Kaohikipu (Black Rock Island) offshore of Makapuu and Kapapa in Kaneohe Bay. It was kind of nice to be able to work locally. For the Kaohikaipu surveys we launched the DAR boat in Hawaii Kai and had a rough but beautiful ride around the east side. This islet was a rubble field and not very species rich. There were small coral recruits but a lot of bare substrate. Most of the invertebrate fauna was found in the cracks and crevasses of the rock. I thought that there would be a more speciose reef formation. But since it is the windward side of the islet I think that wave action must restrict what can thrive there. Kapapa was similar in its lack of invertebrate fauna, but was an algal garden for Louise. I did see the largest colony of Pocillopora eydouxi , antler coral, that I have ever seen. I also observed a lot of Cone shells I had never seen before and we encountered one particular reef area that looked like a thriving juvenile fish nursery. Paul, our DAR fish surveyor, showed me the juvenile phases for several of the reef fish species that occur hereSince there weren’t very many inverts to count I got to learn more about the fish fauna. It was also interesting to note how shallow the water is offshore of the islet. We had to do our surveys several hundred yards away from Kapapa just to get to 30ft. These Oahu islets are a bit less speciose than the outer islands that we surveyed, but unique in their own way and I am happy to know what exists underwater in these locations."