Up up and away.....

As I drove to the heliport excited with the prospect of flying over the island and getting to remote parts to sample I was struck by how unsettling the ocean looked that morning. I had to stop the car by the side of the road in Kapa'a to take this portrait of a emotionally distraught ocean.

This is Rob, he is the guy that allowed me to tag along with him as he searches for some roaches that live in the tree bark. It is a project he is doing as a hobby. He is a great naturalist who seems to know everything about the plants, animals and geology of the islands

My first helicopter ride. This is the 3rd of self portraits I took - in the other two I looked too scared. There is no door and you feel as if you could just fall out of the helicopter. Of course you are strapped in with the same seatbelt technology found in your car. The headphones are great in that they cancel out most of the sound of the helicopter engines. I was hitching a ride with a amateur naturalist Robin Rice who had chartered this helicopter from Jack Harter tours.

As we took off from the heliport I was struck by the great number of golf courses that dot the landscape. I guess it is better than a strip mall.... 

A sideways glance out my window looking down Waimea Canyon.  

You can see the scars of 4.5 million years of erosion on this island. It gives it such a rugged beauty that is unmatched. 

One of the many spectacular views near the center of Kauai which are only visible from a helicopter. The thick white clouds make a mysterious ceiling.

This is near Waialeale (the wettist place on earth) and we could go no further because of cloud cover. The concern would be that by the end of the day this whole area would be shrouded in clouds and we would be stranded a day or two or more until the clouds cleared so the helicopter could return to land. Needless to say, we did not stay here to collect. Maybe another day. 

This is a actually a picture of the helicopter returning to pick us up - but imagine it is just dropping us off for sake of the storyline. Notice how open and small the helicopter is - the winds had fun with us. Our pilot Luca is a great pilot and really knows the island and how the winds move around these mountain ranges. 

We finally settled on Makaleha mountains, here at Wekiu point to sample. We were at 1011 m altitude.

All of the trees were covered in the thick mat of moss and ferns. When I searched in this stuff all I would find is mostly crustraceans - pill bugs (Isopods) and Amphipods. I saw only 1 beetle and a few other types of insects. There were suprisingly few insects in this stuff considering the amount of rich organic material to feed on here.

The wet boggy area was very difficult to move through...all of a sudden your foot would sink up to your knee in muck. Most of the time it was fairly firm footing (say that 3x fast).

This is one of the 'cousins' of the spider I am looking for - this is a green Tetragnathid (Tetragnatha pilosa) that has evolved to capture prey without the use of a web.