New Lava Skylight
The Volcano Goddess Pele continues to battle her sister Na Maka, the Goddess of the Sea, flowing most strongly to the east, but steadily to the west as well. All ocean entries are within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, at numerous points in the Pacific Ocean. Pele’s fluid pahoehoe flows now cover the better part of a mile of the recently completed access road, which now gives visitors a lengthy, but reasonably easy path directly to the ocean entry. Pele rolled over the Pali nearly two months ago, mostly between Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision. This new flow, dubbed 61G is now about 6 miles long. Visitors continue to make their way on foot and by boat to take in the spectacle. Although the safe viewing area has been laid out well back from the active ocean entry, many photographers and curiosity seekers still enter the restricted areas. Plenty of black sand beaches now line the coast near the ocean entry, and large cracks have appeared on the eastern lava delta… a precursor to a collapse that could occur at any time. The stunning weather allowed us to visit the vent today as well… we found a beautiful lava lake within to the west. Special guest David O. Baldwin captured a smiley face in the lake, but my image looks more like a Picasso version of Kermit the Frog. Leilani the Hula Girl and Lava Ducky were absent today, having accompanied Bruce Omori to the mainland, but Tom Kuali’i and I had the pleasure of flying with Paradise Helicopters’ smiley face pilot, Colin Burkardt. Mahalo, Colin… you have mad skills at the stick!
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure
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