November 3, 2016 Sunrise Lava
Mahalo Jake Shimabukuro for his song “Ballad” from his new album “Nashville Sessions” available on JS Records.

Strong winds blew Pele’s plume from the Pu’u ‘O’o vent flat over the lavascape southward on a gorgeous November morning. The vent’s lava lake was mostly visible today, and the two skylights to the north have re-opened. Some 30-50 down, the breaks in the surface reveal a huge river of lava flowing quickly down the 61G flow’s path, feeding the ocean entry some six miles from the vent. Only five visitors had walked to the ocean entry by daybreak this morning, and no boats shared the entry with us. The skylight just above the road remain… photographers getting an eyeful at that location. The lava delta is enormous… over twenty acres large by some accounts. And cracks in its surface indicate a strong probability of collapse soon. A great deal of lava is flowing into the ocean, causing small steam explosions as the sea can’t cool off the volume quickly enough. Pele continues to form numerous new black sand beaches along the coast near her ocean entries… the hot lava’s interaction with the cold seawater shattering the flow into bits that are then tumbled into submission. What a fabulous glimpse of creation for visitors on foot, by boat or in the air!
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure