Kerama Deer

The Kerama deer live on Aka and Geruma, but not Zamami.  They usually make their public appearances early in the morning or just before dark - times when I am never on those islands.  Occasionally, though, I will run across them during the day. 

So it was a couple days ago when I was doing some research for a secret project when I ran into these deer.  They weren't too worried about my presence, which was awesome for photography:

[this is the biggest buck I've seen in real life or pictures]

[two bucks, still in velvet]

[nice composition, Dave!]

Wahoooooo!

I've sorta been in the market for a new kayak for a year now.  My current kayak is a sit-on-top with cracks in the bottom that leak (which I could fix pretty easily with some silicone if I was so inclined).  It weighs a lot and doesn't do so well in wind, but it's perfect for beachcombing (dragging up over the rocks to get ashore), catching fish (it's really hard to tip), and swimming from.

The kayak shop just got some new sit-on and sit-in kayaks and tempted me to try one.  Intrigued by their speed, I opted for the sit-in.

I wasn't let down.  I was flying (relatively) through the wind yesterday, so I woke up earlier and took it back out today for a longer test to a faraway island.  I reached the island in record time and just as I was passing some anchored fishing boats and thinking how good this kayak might be for trolling, the drag on my reel started clicking off.

Handling a sit-in kayak in waves is tenuous, but then add to that something below pulling hard at your kayak and it becomes positively nerve-wracking (especially when you haven't yet learned how to get back in a sit-in kayak after flipping it).

The fight lasted about five minutes and there were some scary moments, but eventually I coaxed him up next to the kayak and got his head out of the water.  The return trip - straight into a strong headwind - took half the time it takes me on my sit-on.  So I'm thinking seriously about purchasing the sit-in kayak.  But this might mean the end of my Giant Trevally fishing from kayak, unless we can figure out an outrigger system to give more support to the 'yak.  Otherwise it'll just be too dangerous.

[I'm continually surprised by how small my kayak fish look in their ensuing pictures.  He was probably 6-7 pounds]

[I finally got to break in the sashimi plate I bought in Naha's pottery district a few months back]

It has been a dream of mine to catch a wahoo on my own (not while marlin fishing) since my early days in Palau eight years ago.  Today was the first one, so I fulfilled my dream pun by shouting "Wahooooooooo!"

Contest Entry #6

[hibiscus]

Catching A Hermit Crab

I woke up at 5am and went to the beach a couple days ago to photograph hermit crabs at dawn.  Check out the following series to see the awesome encounter I witnessed:

[watch that white object in the upper right]

[the crab picking up the hermit crab.  he carried him off so fast that I didn't really get any pictures, except when he dropped him halfway (see next)]

[into the crab's hole he went, where I guess the crab waits for the hermit crab to get impatient and exit his shell?]

Turtle at 8"

I realized I had an extra night to spare so I took off for an uninhabited island camping trip last night.

At my favorite beach, where I combined the trip with some fishing and wood-gathering (for a balcony project).

I woke up at 12:30am to a sound outside my tent. I looked forward and was initially unable to comprehend what was staring me back in my face, just 8" away: a turtle.  She promptly turned around and went back the way she came.

[decent-sized at a little over three feet long]

[u-turn]

Contest Entry #5

Contest Entry #4

It's sorta fun to look at these a week later.  The first one seems to dark to me now.  The second is too late in the day.  The third I should have cropped closer.  This one I hated when I submitted it, but I like it more now.  Those shadows at the bottom are pretty unforgiving, though.