1st Kalaupapa night dive

Tonight we conducted the first night scuba dive operation in the history of Kalaupapa. The crew from the UH Herbivory project, Lindsey Kramer and Kerrie Krosky, were interested in quantifying the grazing pressure of sea urchins, which are nocturnal creatures. In darkness, we donned our glow stick studded scuba tanks, bracelets and necklaces, and prepared to rave, a rave for science!

The night diver

We all were expecting to catch a glimpse of some behemoth from the deep, feeling exposed to the entire Pacific Ocean on the north shore of Moloka'i.

But we were disappointed in that regard. A couple interesting urchins did make it on our transects, along with some other fascinating creatures like the Dendrodoris tuberculosa, the tuberculous nudibranch.