Photos from 2002 September 21
So, this is the start of the dawn trip up the volcano to see the sun rise. This shot is actually an eight-second exposure of the setting full moon, off to the west, looking down over Weilea and Kihei. We were maybe half to two-thirds of the way up the mountain at this point. I love the moonlight glinting off the water, and although eight seconds was way too long of an exposure, it was interesting how the camera picked up the reflected headlights of the car off the grass. You can also see the streak of an ascending vehicle further down the slope behind us.	Same location, same shot, just a much shorter exposure. Thats moonlight glinting off the ocean at the bottom, not city glow.	Same shot, just a horizontal one.	I wondered, since the moon was *so* overexposed in the previous shots, if I could find an exposure that would actually be able to capture the surface texture of the moon. At 1/1000 of a second, this is what it was able to do. Not bad, eh?
Another moon shot. I think this was at a higher zoom than the previous one.	A shot from atop Haleakala at dawn, looking down to the Northwest, with the rising sun over my right shoulder.	This is the Air Force observatory here, including the AEOS telescope, which is under the cylindrical dome on the left. There are also some smaller telescopes under the two domes on the right. This facility is to the south west of the public observation point on the peak of Haleakala.	At a wider angle, here's the observatory on the left with the setting moon on the right. The ocean is visible below the moon. The view from up here was just breathtaking. I took a series of shots that Im hoping to make into a 360 degree panorama view. Well see if I can figure out the authoring software.
We weren't the only ones up here. Here's a skyline of all the people waiting to see the sunrise. To the right, there was a rocky path that led up to the actual highest point, which only a couple dozen or so people climbed. The view was actually substantially better from up there, even though it was only a few meters higher.	This is a view from the *very* top of the volcano. The rising sun is lighting up the clouds, and you can see the people waiting below. The crater stretches away to the right, and you can see it straight on in the next picture...	This is the view down the crater to the southeast. Although it hasn't erupted in a long time, this volcano is not technically dormant. The last flow was in 1790, although it came out a vent on the south side of the island. I'm not sure when the last flow in *this* crater was. Thousands of years ago, I think I read.	The view to the south. The distant peak is actually the island of Hawaii, or >The Big Island< as they call it around here. I was pretty surprised at how close the other islands are. Somehow from Oahu I didn't remember ever noticing any other islands, but here you could usually see Lanai or Molokai or the Big Island from any given coastal vantage point.
The moon continues to sink even lower, although since the rocks in this photo are at 10000 feet, the moon is not *quite* as low as it looks. It will vanish soon, though.	Another view of the crater.	Here's the first glimpse of the sun. Technically, it's already risen, but since it's still below the cloud layer, it didn't *feel* like it was up yet.	Here's the setting moon, along with the *shadow* of Haleakala (the dark blue triangle against the pink background) spreading out to the west as the sun rises.
A wider version of the same shot. Note that although you can see several of the other islands in this shot, the large peak to the left is NOT one of them; it is, in fact, the shadow of Haleakala! I was really surprised this effect was so pronounced. You expect buildings to case distinct shadows; it was a little boggling to think of something as big as a mountain casting an actual *shadow*.	Again, the shadow of Haleakala. This time you can see the moon dipping below the horizon. At least, in the big version you can.	One version of a dawn panorama. Not 360 degrees, not yet, but this gives you about 150 degrees or so. You can see the extent of the crater, and all the little vocanic vent/cones in the middle of it. Lava would have flowed away from this spot, and then veered off either to the left past those ragged peaks, or way off in the distance to the right.	Now, we move to after lunch and our visit to the very cool aquarium, or >Ocean Center<. Heres a unicorn fish. They said no one really knows what the >horn< is for, although it does seem to be some kind of sensory organ. They come in all kinds of sizes.
The proliferation and diversity of ocean life is simply staggering. I may have ruined my underwater photos from the snorkeling trip because I forgot they were in my suitcase when I put it through security. >Film? No, no film. Im digital now.< Sigh. So I might not get all those cool shots of coronet fish and sea cucumbers after all. I fervently hope theyre okay.	I liked the coloration and structure of this fish. It was quite camera shy, though. This was the best shot I could get.	I have no idea what this thing was called, but it has got to be one of the weirdest looking fish I've ever seen. The thing growing out of its >nose< had two prongs, and looked for all the world like a pincer-holder-claw thing, but I have no idea if it can actually use it to hold anything, or if its just for show.	This was a poisonous Leaf Scorpion fish. It was only a few inches long, and almost translucent (parts of it were translucent).
A gorgeous type of lobster.	A fascinating crab. The cone of the shell extended out to its right, and it is looking right at the camera. You can see its >face< between the near-symmetric larger legs in the middle.	Some really neat looking eels.	Got this eel in mid-gulp.
These >Garden Eels< dig themselves up to two feet in the ground, and let half their bodies sway around in the water. They can retract if nervous and hide in the ground, but they don't seem to like to leave the ground, although they're not *rooted*; I presume they *could* swim off if they were so inclined.	The fins on this strange fish looked like wings.	I could have watched this octopus for hours. I had read that they were chameleons, but I hadn't really believed it. Believe it. This guy turned a mottled grey and brown when he touched down on the ground, to match the color of the rocks. The change was instant and striking, not subtle at all. There was actually a glass wall between the mollusc and the fish, and *boy* did that octopus want to get at those fish. It was a little bigger than my closed fist when all curled up.	The shark tank. Cool.
Another shark view.	There was a turtle tank, with maybe six Green Turtles in it. The turtles looked so graceful and elegant, gliding through the water, until they collided with each other or a wall. Bonk!	This is what I saw, only bigger, when I was on the snorkel trip. Now, *those* turtles were extremely camera shy. They would drift right up to the boat, but by the time I got my camera out, or I got into the water... they were vanished. These photos will have to do to indicate what that was like.	I loved the way their markings looked like brushstrokes. Really gorgeous!
There was a big tank with sting rays and hammerhead sharks in it. These were absolutely riveting to watch.	Here's one of the Hammerheads. They must have been young, as they were only three or four feet long. I just could not get over the shape of the head. What a crazy creature.	The Hammerhead from above. We laughed at the >Jaws pose< the shark was taking, with its fin sticking out of the water.	Another Jaws pose, showing the full length of the shark.
This ray was absolutely fascinating. It kept trying to climb out of the tank. Here you can see it poke its front end out of the water, and the next image shows it even more dramatically.	I wonder what it was trying to achieve? Fascinating. I didn't realize it had a pointy front end until I was nose to nose with one.	The next few photos are all from a stunning exhibit that was very simply a nine foot tall, four foot across, cylindrical tank with thousands and thousands of jellyfish in it. They just pulsed in their jellyfish way, and you could sit there for a half-hour easily, riveted by their motion. See Jellyfish.MOV in this directory for a short Quicktime movie. The next few shots are all closeups of the jellyfish, and then there's a final shot of the full tank.	More jellyfish.
Some more jellyfish.	Still more jellyfish of various sizes. They seemed to range from about a quarter inch in size (or smaller) up to almost a foot across.	The jellyfish tank. This was a flat-out stunning exhibit, and far and away the biggest surprise of the aquarium. Very, very cool.	A couple of squid. They were hard to photgraph, because they would drift in and out of the one light beam in the tank, which made it hard to focus on them and set light levels.
Here's a side shot of a squid. I had calamari for dinner tonight, need I mention? :-)	This fish was only a few inches across, but had streaming trails several feet long. What was it called? Fan-stream Jack or something.	There was a giant tank with 23 sharks, a dozen or so rays, and some 15000 fish in it. The underbelly of the rays were so interesting. They take in water through valves on top, and then push it out through the two sets of vents underneath.	A school of fish in the big tank.
There was a glass tunnel you could walk through, and look up and or around at the fish passing by. Here you can see those exhaust vents clearly.	Here's Michelle, trying to tickle a ray through the extremely thick glass. I don't think the ray noticed. Either that or it wasn't ticklish.	That concluded our tour of the aquarium, so we went back to our favorite parts again. Here's a turtle coming up for air...	And when we got back to the big tank with the tunnel, they were about to do a feeding.
And the ray went mad, severely mauling the diver before turning on the audience! Oh, the humanity! Just kidding. The diver was feeding the ray some clams, and it was an extremely enthusiastic begger for more food. Reminded me of some cats I know. We also saw them feed dead squid to another one of the rays, but I didn't get that on film [so to speak].	The sharks, while certainly not harmless, left the divers alone.	Shark and Ray, together again.	Here you can see both the spotted back and the mottled edges of the underbelly of this ray. This kind of ray flapped its fins like wings to propel itself, but the other kind of ray rippled its fins.
The fish got very excited about being fed, and swarmed the diver, while the sharks stayed very casual.	Heres the ray, coming back for another handout.	There was a wonderful beam of light playing through the tank, and I got this shot just as the ray was heading through it. All in all, this was a wonderful ending to a wonderful week!
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