Easter Sunday on La Perouse Pinnacle

A shark swimming through the tunnnel/cave under La Perouse

Seal swimming around near La Perouse

Kristina swimming through the cave under La Perouse

Kristina about to swim through the cave

Luckily the shark was not in the cave under La Perouse when we swam through

On Easter Sunday we took the boats out to La Perouse Pinnacle. The snorkeling was incredible, we will put up more pictures of the reef and fish in a later blog. While snorkeling we discovered that there is a tunnel/cave underwater beneath La Perouse about 25-30 feet down. Jimmy and I finally mustered up the courage to swim through the tunnel, and we were glad we did, it was an incredible experience. Luckily no sharks were inhabiting the cave when we did our swim through. Pictures courtesy of Mark Sullivan, one of the NMFS Hawaiian Monk Seal researchers out here.

After snorkeling Jimmy and I prepared an Easter ham for dinner! It turned out delicious!

We had an Easter feast! We also made cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole, Paula made yummy spiced carrots, Sarah and Dan made a delicious pineapple casserole, and Lindsey made some amazing haystack cookies.

Easter Weekend Boat Ride

Lindsey and I in front of Disappearing Island

Paula enjoying the boat ride

Dan also enjoying the boat ride

Jimmy driving the boat

Me distracting Jimmy while he drives the boat 

Paula and Mark on the boat

Paula and Mark

Dan free diving off of Disappearing Island

Umbrella time

The umbrella was a big hit

Reef from the edge of the atoll 

Jimmy peaking over a ledge, I think there was a large lobster there

Yes, we are wearing hats AND sunscreen!!!!!

Black-foot at sunset

We took the boat out to explore the atoll yesterday. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and calm seas. We went snorkeling at Disappearing Island which is on the opposite side of the atoll. The reef there was very deep ~ 40 -50 feet but very beautiful. We also went snorkeling at another spot where the visibility was easily over 100ft. Today we made cinnamon buns for Easter breakfast  and will be making an Easter ham and famous Cheesy Potatoes for dinner. We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Albatross chick banding and snorkeling!

It is finally albatross chick banding time! Jimmy and I have begun banding the Black-Footed Albatrosses in his plots. 

It is almost time to start banding the Red-Tailed Tropic bird chicks, they almost have all of their feathers!

Brown Noddy at sunset

Kristina with a Black-Footed Albatross chick

Moonrise, a few minutes after the sunset

The Black-Footed albatross on the left is making a silly face while the Laysan/Blackfoot hybrid next to him poses for the picture

The sea turtles have begun mating and form large piles on the beach. They have been seen mating in the water and on the sand. 

Linkia Starfish seen when snorkeling off of East island in the French Frigate Shoals

Pacific chub, Yellow morph seen snorkeling off of east island

Slate pencil urchin seen while snorkeling off of east island

Jimmy and Kristina at La Perouse Pinnacle

Table coral near Shark island which is west of Tern Island in the French Frigate shoals

The other day we notice that there were butterflies flying around the island. They are very beautiful, it was a pleasant surprise!

Jimmy and I finishing up a long day at work

The albatrosses are looses their down and gaining some feathers. We thought this guy kind of looked like a llama, so we named him Kuzco

Male Bird Wrasse

Male Bird wrasse seen near Shark island

Kristina swimming through a small school of fish

This is a spotted knife jaw fish that we saw while snorkeling off of East island

This is a female Bird Wrasse that we saw while snorkeling off of East Island

Jimmy swimming over a table coral near Shark Island

Table coral near Shark Island

Kristina swimming over a table coral near Shark Island

Giant Trevally swimming near Shark Island

There were hundreds of Convict Tangs swimming near Shark island

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasses

Jimmy found some marine debris while snorkeling off of Shark Island

This is a Chevron Butterflyfish 

More Coral near Shark Island

Table coral near Shark Island

We have been very busy this week banding the Black-footed Albatross in Jimmy's plots. The chicks are getting their adult feathers in so we need to band them before they fledge. The weather has been very sunny and breezy these past couple days.  There was supposed to be a cauliflower coral spawning yesterday but the water was probably too cold so we did not see it happen here. Besides albatross chick banding not much else is new here. We hope everyone has a good week!