Manta Madness!!!!!

I thought this was an interesting conversation on the manta report, I'd like to share with my followers: Emails have been excluded for privacy issues. Names are left to incriminate the "innocent".









On Sat, May 21, 2011 at 10:49 AM, John Haut wrote:



Aloha All,


Big manta counts lately. Lots of $$, boats, divers, and snorkelers!,
Is there any concern in the manta community/dive industry
with supplying an artificially high level of food to and possibly
contributing to an overpopulation of mantas? Could we see starving

mantas if /when the "manta ray night dive" ends and/or the plankton

populations are depleted?




However spectacular and marketable $$ this activity is, it seens to be an
unchecked and unnatural dependence on human interaction. What if some
legislator rightly or wrongly ruled that diving with mantas was verboten?
Would the current manta population survive without the "manta ray
night dive"?




John Haut












From: Keller Laros
To: John Haut
Cc: Manta Pacific . Org
Sent: Sat, May 21, 2011 10:56:22 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Friday May 13, 2011, Twenty Five Mantas @ Garden Eel Cove

Mantas also feed in the lights in front of hotels and restaurants like

Huggos, Four Seasons, Mauna Kea, Kona Surf. I've seen mantas feeding

at the light at Kailua Pier too. Hopefully some one wouldn't also

want all shore line lights turned out too. That could be hard for

business, navigation, safety. You name it.

Good point John.











_______________________________________






Me:






I have long pondered this exact same question, and was assured during a personal night dive at Two Step. We entered the water and surface swam out to the "aloha" where we dropped down. We saw 3 mantas feeding already in the area. Upon hitting the bottom I began having trouble with my lights, they were flickering on and off.... after a moment I realized that it was not my lights at all, but the amount of plankton converging in front of them blocking out the light. Before long I couldn't see anything. I've seen nights we call a 5 at the manta site, and this trumped that. These mantas were in a complete smorgasbord . We eventually had to call off the dive because the plankton was too thick. Point of my story is that we aren't "over feeding" the mantas. There is more than enough plankton elsewhere on the reefs they can be feeding on, and do for that matter, without our help. I'm confident these animals could survive our absence without much ado. With that said, certainly we are causing some kind of affect on the environment by becoming a part of it, whether it's a good or bad one, is yet to be absolutely determined. But think of the ramifications that could be caused by the abolishing of the manta dive, which is nearly the entirety of which our dive industry in Kona is based on. Without it, we lose not only the manta dive itself and the revenue it generates, but also the money these divers spend on subsequent day dives, hotels, food, groceries, rental cars, entertainment, and many more businesses on Island. How many of us, or our loved ones have jobs as purveyors, bartenders, resort workers, cooks etc. Without the mantas many of these divers would opt to dive the Caribbean and never get to see the wonders our island has to offer. This could lead to a lack of interest in conservation areas, marine management, and national underwater monuments. I think the attention the Manta dive brings to Kona helps not only it's people but also its underwater environment. Let's keep it up. Just my 2 cents.






-Joshua


Joshua Lambus
J.Lambus Photography
74-5540 Kaiwi St. #283
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
808-989-9560

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Keep the Country Country.

Today I head back home to Kona. It has been an exciting past few days, but I am very ready to be relaxing back on my quaint little island. It's been a few days since i've written because I've been running non stop. I graduated from my AFF class with flying colors. Get it? Sorry. And got in three jumps afterward putting my number of jumps up to 12 and my flight time at just under 10 minutes of free fall. It amazes me that there are guys that have literally spent over a week of their life falling through the sky. I hope to one day have attained such freedom and skill in the air. But for now I'll have to keep chipping away at it. I also ran the gauntlet of friends around the island. And stopped at a number of beaches bodysurfing and freediving all along the way. I'll be honest, This was my first real trip to Oahu. I didn't think I would like it very much, and while Waikikki was ridiculous, I felt very at home on the north shore. It's like a bigger Kona. Still country still laid back. And thank god for waikkiki. If it wasnt there all those tourist might spill over into the north areas of the Island.I spoke with a number of gallery owners about putting my work in the Galleries, and think I got  a few that are interested. I'll definately be making it back here more often now that I know I can handle it. But home is still Kona. And I suspect it always will be.

Carlin's not Dead!!!

Today I continue ground class with Clarence. Though I thought this the first time, I'm now convinced that he is george carlin in disguise hiding out in Hawaii teaching skydiving. I did my 3 tandem jumps over the past couple of days with only minor hitches. The first jump I lost my goggles and glasses and had a hard time finding the ripcord at pull time, which apparently is important. The instructor passed me though. And I went through the class with Clarence where he told us of all the ways we were going to die.... I'm paying to do this why? Tonight I got back to the hostel and met a fun group of guys that work in waikki at the beachside hostel, and were on a weekend vacation to the north shore. We are now heading across the street to bonfire on the beach and I'm taking my sweet time writing this blog entry but, i'm supposed to bring more beer, so I need to go.

Jumping out of not so perfectly good airplanes.

I arrived to Oahu yesterday without much of a plan besides learning to skydive. Which I felt was plenty plan enough. I have been "planning" this trip for the past few weeks and been very eager to join my friends' ranks in the sky. Upon hitting the ground and grabbing my rental car, I immediately went to the store to grab my usual "new place equipment" toothpaste, razors, pocket knife, stickers to disquiet the rental as a local car and of course a baseball bat. I called all of my friends that I have on Oahu to find some couch surfing accommodations. I lucked out with my friend Chris who lives just outside of Waikiki. I called him to find out where he lived and surprisingly found myself standing outside his apartment already! In true Chris fashion he planned a party for that evening , and we had a good old fashion bonfire on the beach with a 300 ft cliff on one side of us and ocean as far as we could see to the other. After waking up late I rushed off to Aiea, a city near pearl harbor. I met with clarence, my ground school instructor at a chili's restaurant. We spoke for about 3 hours on what the basic skills were while falling out of the sky. The other customers probably wondered of the strange hand signals and body movements that we were doing. After class I headed to the north shore and checked in at the backpackers hostel. As it turns out one of my friends from the big island was working reception there. And in true Gordon fashion he whipped up a party for this evening, and we drank and were merry. Tonight I sleep and get ready for my first AFF jump tomorrow.

If you can dodge a wrench........

Dodge ball has been a childhood favorite of mine, as it was for most. So when Kailua-Kona, Hawaii had a chance to go toe to toe with neighbors, co-workers, and friends in a Dodgball championship to the death, we the "Kids" of town jumped at the chance. Then proceeded to dive at the chance, duck from it, and of course dodge it. Our mission was to set up a 10 team tourney and go head to ball until we had a single victorious team. The cause was to raise money for a village in Africa so they could purchase much needed mosquito nets for their homes.  On the faithful day teams amassed to the Old Airport Recreation Center. The uniforms were riotous to say the least. From the kilt-wearing "Balls in yer face", the compression saock-wearing "Ballz Deep", to the "Rainbow Sprites", the beer toting, rainbow-wearing, bartendresses from around town. All were out in force, and in style. Though I was a member of one of the teams, I also took on the role of "sport photographer" for the matches I wasn't playing in.  I shot my Canon 7D with the 100-400mm L series lens attached. The 7D performed flawlessly, firing off shots as fast as I could take them. In a high speed game like dodgeball you have to have a high speed camera to catch the action. And catch the action I did indeed. In the end we made over $2000 dollars for charity. And the young punks of the games took home the championship. It probably helped that they were 10 years younger than most of us, and made up the better part of the Kealakehe high school baseball team. All in all a successful, and fun day with tons of pictures to remember it by.

A new Beginning

Not often do I feel didsatisfied but recently I've been feeling a bit on edge. Between opening the gallery, and trying to work the boat every day it's been hectic. And strangely as an ocean guide and under water photographer I haven't been able to go diving. But alas I made it out on a dive with Kona Diving Company.
About a week ago my friend Kerry told me she would be taking her boat on a long range 3 tank dive down the Kona coast of Hawaii to a rarely dove site by the name of The Hive.  Since I haven't dove this site in many years I jumped at the chance. After dusting off the dive gear and digging my DIN adapter out of a box I hadn't opened since I'd moved, I was ready. Accompanied by my girlfriend Domino and our two friends Katie and Stewart, we rolled up to the boat early to setup. As we made our way down the coast we came across a pod of Pilot Whales and decided to get a closer look. After Watching them for a while and observing the behavior we decided to get in.  Kerry warned of the Oceanic White Tip Sharks that frequently follow these whales to pick up scraps. Oceanics have long been known as the scourge of the pelagic realm. Though most sharks get a bad rap for being blood thirsty killing machines, these beauties have earned their reputation. Their smaller, less aggressive cousins, "Reef white tips" actually give these bad boys a connotation of docility, due to the reef sharks' rapport with divers. But those two sharks could not be much further in demeanor than fish could be. While "reef" white tips will swim the opposite direction when confronted, "Oceanic" white tips will swim at it full frontal.  Living in the open ocean these sharks get very little to nibble on, and when they find something, they become very curious. Given the chance, an Oceanic white tip would more than likely gobble up a reef white tip, granted it was an easy meal, i.e. injured or sick. So when we jumped in, we understandably kept our heads on a swivel scanning the blue nothingness for sharks.  The captain had positioned the boat in front of the Pilot whales just off to the side toward the shore. The dive master David and I were first in. We gained distance from the boat while the others slowly made their way toward us.  Soon the Pilot Whales' shadows formed shapes, and not long after that they parted their way around me and David. Suddenly I heard Dave yell something. 


Shark!!! 


I turned in time to see him back paddling through the water as an Oceanic b-lined toward him. Empowered with the invincibility that is my camera, I swam right at the animal only to have it turn off 15 ft or so away. I did a quick scan, since they often travel in packs. Once I  determined that it was alone, I turned once again at getting a shot. I was shooting my 1984 model Nikonos V, loaded with Fuji provia 400, and the Sea and Sea 20mm on it. Because its a 35mm format with such a wide angle lens. in order to get a decent image, I'd have to be closer than 5 ft from the shark. Biting my camera would be preferable.  I tried my best to look like a dead fish in hopes of getting the animal to come close alas, it rushed up to me and turned away right at the edge of my hopes. I framed the shot, held my breath, and pressed the shutter and advanced the film, but never got another chance after that. After it circled us for another 10 or so minutes it spiraled down into the depths, not to be seen again. The others had mostly gotten into the water at this point. Ronin had found a baby sargassum frogfish that we crowded around, for a while. I called my girlfriend over who was still looking for the shark. After a moment with the minute frogfish we got back onto the boat. Everyone had smiles from ear to ear. It's not everyday you get to swim with sharks, pilot whales, and see rare open ocean fish. And to share the experiences with good friends is always a plus. We headed on to our dive sites and had 3 wonderful dives in caves, lava tubes, vast coral reefs, and shoals of fish. I even had the chance to time-lapse the movement of a pincushion starfish. Overall my first dives back in the water for 2011 were great ones, but none as memorable as the moments we spent with the oceanic. Can't wait to get my film developed.

Sacred Moments

Kailua Kona, Hawaii has been in a drought for months. Or I should say, rather, had been in a drought for months. Then I bought a motorcycle. I looked it up.... it has literally rained everyday since I bought my motorcycle 1 month ago. To this I say, "You're welcome Kona".Kailua Kona is a beautiful town. It is country, but just urban enough, by the ocean, where I spend as much time as possible, and an all around good place to be. Good people, Great weather (even when it rains), gorgeous sights and an absolutely beautiful chunk of the Pacific Ocean adhering to it's coast. Doesn't take much time here to agree with me, that this is a one of a kind place on our blue planet. I am Joshua Lambus. I have lived in this magical place for 7 years now, and have very little intention on leaving. I work as a dive master and photographer of all things under and above the water. I've had the fortune to photograph amazing people, places, active lave, and some of the strangest creatures known, and not known to man. I decided to start this blog for many reasons. To educate people of our oceans, to keep family in the know of what I'm doing, as a way to keep my friends updated on what they're missing, but most of all to share some of the most amazing events of my life with the world, as they take place. The first of which has to do with the rain and my motorcycle.

Yesterday night after a long day of work swimming with dolphins during the day, and the manta rays at night, I set off for home. Though it had been raining the manta dive was absolutely wonderful. It quit raining right as we put the boat to bed and started out the door. I road my motorcycle home slowly and deliberately as the wet roads tend to make motorcycle riding a bit more challenging. There is a particularly dark and long stretch of road right after you turn on to the main road from my work. Fog rolled over the road into my path and my my ride even more slow going. As I rode down the road I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye. It quickly swooped into view to reveal itself as an owl. A very large owl. I would estimate it's wingspan to be at least 5ft though very possibly larger. As i rode along it positioned itself just to my right and just a head of the bike about a foot, I presume to hunt by way of my single headlight in the dark. For what seemed like a miniature eternity it stayed there moving at exactly the pace of my motorcycle. We moved motionless in relation to each other and I was nearly mesmerized by what was happening. Never before had I been so close to an owl, let alone one in flight, and for so long. Soon it turned it's head to look me directly in the eye, as to say goodbye, before banking sharply upwards and to the right into the trees, and into the dark. It took me a moment to remember I needed to look ahead of what was oncoming as I rode forward in the dark. The image of that magnificently stoic creature lingered with me long after. I often times feel this way about ocean animals, but rarely about land animals such as this bird. Thus I decided today was as good a time as any to start this blog. So here you have it. Unedited, Uncensored and for all to read. A blog about me. A blog about Life. A blog about our planet. By me for us. Hope you enjoy.