Minor Mishaps

There comes a time in every turtlers life that they do something pretty stupid that compromises their ability to work. Now, it may be that our job requires a lot of intense outdoor activity, that the most minor injury can be a pretty big deal when you have to hike up to 10 miles every day, or that we're all just a little too adventurous for our own good, but whatever it may be, it is a solid fact. It is a good year among the turtlers when none of us have been heli-oped out of the field. In past years people have fallen into crevasses in the lava field, knocked off sections of their toes and almost been driven off the cliffs by hunger maddened cows (that they may have been trying to ride). This year we've only had a person get a concussion from getting knocked on the head by a coconut, another person get a chemical burn on their butt and recently had a mad outbreak of ringworm. All in all, we're doing well.

I myself have done any number of stupid things already during the course of my time here. Many of the injuries I have incurred have come from getting a little too rambunctious with my coworkers (i.e. broken toe and face rug burn from wrestling sessions) or just minor twisted ankles from jumping across lava fields, but all in all, it's just part of the fun.

However, it wasn't any of the hazards of the job that gave me my worst injury of the season so far, that was incurred on my one day of trying to be a tourist. Who'd have thunk that it could be so dangerous to slip on the camera and rent a car for a day? (You'd think, given some recent adventures with the family, that I would know better than to think that.)

It all started so innocently. I had a few things on my to-do list for Hawaii that I needed a car to get to. Namely, I wanted to visit Waipio Valley, go see the summit of Mauna Kea at sunset, and swim with manta rays in Kona. It was an ambitious list, but not out of the question, and Belle and another turtler that I'm going to call Surprise were totally game.

The day went beautifully. Waipio was lovely, as was the Hamakua Coastline that we drove along to get there. We picked up a variety of delicious treats along the way and truly spoiled ourselves for the first time in months (generally turtlers live on a diet of ramen, fried rice, grilled cheese and papaya). Mauna Kea was incredible and we were well on our way to a perfect day when we reached Kona that night for the manta rays.

Now, about the manta rays. Manta rays feed on phytoplankton which is attracted to light and on nights when the moon isn't visible, phytoplankton tends to congregate in places where man-made light sources illuminate the water. The Sheraton hotel in Kona has taken advantage of this fact and intentionally lights up the water near a viewing balcony, so guests can watch the mantas feed.

While most people are content to watch the mantas feed from a distance, or take a certified snorkel tour if they want to get up close and personal, we turtlers prefer the least conventional method. This is why I found myself clad in a bathing suit, mask and snorkel, sitting on the edge of the Sheraton's lawn on a moonless night, preparing to jump from the rocks into the black water below. What could go wrong?

It is perhaps interesting at this juncture to point out that Surprise had a bit of a phobia of dark water and other groups of turtlers had gotten themselves pretty cut up on the rocks in past adventures with the mantas. However, Belle had done this before, and it had gone... well... swimmingly, so we really had nothing to fear. Right.

I took the lead in jumping in, since Surprise was freaking out a bit and Belle was trying to calm her down. Surprise followed, yelping a bit, but so far so good. Then Belle jumped in.

As soon as she popped up, it was clear something was wrong. She was whimpering and within moments I'd pulled a spine from her foot. More clung to the fabric of her wetsuit, many penetrating through to her butt and thigh. Somehow she hadn't jumped quite far enough out and had come down on a rock colonized by poisonous Hawaiian sea urchins known as Wana (pronounced Vana).

Surprise instantly wanted to get out to care for our injured Belle, but Belle wanted to press on, so she lead us over to the mantas, somehow managing to ignore what must have been a pretty intense fiery pain. Swimming with the manta rays was absolutely amazing; they were massive and graceful and totally alien looking but really cool. We watched them do back flips to feed and swam down to touch them, marveling at how soft they were.

After about 30 minutes though, Belle was beginning to get a bit nauseous. The last thing Surprise and I wanted was for her to pass out on us, so we quickly agreed to returning to shore. This meant it was time to go back to the rocks and the wana.

Unfortunately, between the three of us, only Surprise had thought to bring her headlamp and it turns out that one headlamp wrapped in ziploc bags does not really shed enough light for three people to see much. When we reached the rocks, only Surprise had any visibility and suddenly she began to panic. Apparently there was wana EVERYWHERE. Belle and I couldn't see a thing and Surprise was thrashing around, terrified and yelling.

Belle dragged herself out of the water while I tried to calm down Surprise. While turning around, trying to get a glimpse of the poisonous sea creatures we were currently sharing the water with, I managed to kick a rock inhabited by, you guessed it, more wana.

Now I had stabbing, fiery pain in my foot too, Surprise was still in total panic mode and Belle was sitting on the rocks on her wana impaled ass, trying to drag Surprise out of the water. Irony of ironies, Surprise got out without a scratch and Belle pushed her aside to drag me out of the water. I grabbed her hand and just as I got a foot onto the rocks, a huge wave washed over us, pulling me off the rocks and opening a huge gash in the bottom of my other foot. Too full of adrenaline to care, I grabbed for Belle again and managed to actually get out of the danger zone.

We limped back to the car, totally pathetic and then Surprise took the keys to drive us the 97 miles we still had to go to get home. What a mess.

Now, some two weeks later, we're doing okay. Both Belle and I still have a bit of residual wana left after needles and tweezers became unhelpful, but vinegar cut the sting and now we're just waiting for it to work its way out. My foot has healed, just a few days ago I stopped limping and now I don't even have to wrap it for hikes. Belle is still limping a bit, but we're doing well. Almost ready for the next adventure....