Good Morning everyone! Aloha! How are you all this week? I hope this weeks blog finds you are all well and enjoying life! A very talented local historian, Bob Dye, passed away Friday night from cancer. He had a fascinating career, and will be dearly missed! On a totally different subject, my son introduced me to Pistol Shrimp. They are quite interesting and in the waters of Hawaii, so I'll share an article on them as well.
*Local Author And Hawaiian Historian Bob Dye Dies At 81*
Known as the "man with ideas", Hawaiian author, historian, and journalist Bob Dye, passed away over the weekend! Surrounded by family, Dye passed away late Friday night, after a long battle with cancer. He was 81. Even though he unsuccessfully ran for Mayor in the 80's, he was former aide to both Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi and U.S. Rep. Cec Heftel. Dye served as Fasi's executive assistant and as an administrative assistant to Heftel. Ironically, both Fasi and Heftel died last week as well. He was quite a talented individual, whose professional career even included a television sportswriter.
He had been recording, reporting, and promoting Honolulu's history for the past 50 years. He always had something to offer, to put on the table that was worth consideration by his colleagues. "He's a gentle guy, a very kind man" with a sense of humor, said his friend, Jim Loomis, a former Fasi cabinet member. He said Dye organized the Honolulu Ballet in the 1970s after Fasi gave him the project. Dye hired Tessa Magoon as balletmistress and the couple fell in love and married.
Dye's books include "Merchant Prince of the Sandalwood Mountains: Afong and the Chinese in Hawaii," a book about Hawaii's first Chinese millionaire. He also wrote a number of articles every year for Honolulu Magazine on Hawaii history. "He was an absolutely voracious reader," said Bill Hamilton, director of the University of Hawaii Press, who edited Dye's books. "He knew every major book ever written on Hawaii."
For several years before his death, Dye had been working on a book about King Kalakaua's travels, and he actually took the same journeys as Kalakaua to the West Coast, New York, London, Scotland and France. Sadly, he never completed that book. "He was still writing it," Hamilton said. "He was putting the finishing touches on it." The book was planned to be published as "Travels with Ali'i." Hamilton also said that Dye just loved Hawaii, with the people and their culture. It's whole history! "You knew immediately that you were going to enjoy reading the stories that he put together," Hamilton said. "He just had a descriptive style that was engaging and entertaining." Sounds like someone else I know!
Before working for the city, while he was a History Professor, he also won the love and respect from his students at the University of Hawaii. After the administration canceled his classes, the students rallied to keep him at the University! Last June, he released his first novel "Humble Honest Men," published by Watermark Publishing that looked at similarities in Irish and Hawaiian culture. That Novel was a dozen years in the making. His wife suggested writing a novel to help pass the time in sleepy Kinsale, where the family has kept a home. Dye's wife Tessa also died of cancer, back in 2002. He has five children. He leaves behind three sons, two daughters, and three grandchildren.
*Pistol Shrimp*
Have you ever been swimming in the waters of Hawaii and heard a snapping sound under the water? Well, I haven't, but need to do something about that someday! lol Yes, I hear Hawaii calling! ;-) Anyway, there is this fascinating little marine life creature, with size ranging from a half inch to two inches. found in tropical and temperate coastal and marine waters, such as Hawaii. It is called the Pistol Shrimp, a species of Snapping Shrimp. It's technical term is an Alpheidae.
All pistol shrimp have one, or sometimes two, oversized claws that create a cavitation bubble as it snaps shut. This bubble, very briefly reaches temperatures approaching that of the sun, about 4700 degrees Celsius. A loud "popping" noise is created as well
There are at least 500 different species of these Pistol Shrimp. Most snapping shrimp dig burrows and are common inhabitants of coral reefs, submerged seagrass flats, and oyster reefs. Their claws are used for both offence and defence. While they do use it on their prey (small shrimp) they are also known as excellent scavengers in the marine aquarium.
They commonly build burrows in the sand and have been known to tunnel underneath the live rock. That can be dangerous if the rock is not properly secured, the entire foundation can collapse. Nevertheless they perform a great service in aquariums with a sandy bottom, as they constantly turn over the sand, which keeps it clean.
By far, an interesting aspect of pistol shrimp are their ability to form a relationship with some species of goby fish. This is commonly seen in pistol shrimps belonging to the genus Alpheus such as the tiger pistol shrimp and Randall's pistol shrimp. This is reall interesting because both parties benefit from the relationship. Pistol shrimp naturally have very bad eyesight and rely on the goby to warn it when danger approaches. It does this by keeping in constant physical contact with the goby by resting its antennae on the goby's tail and body.
Any sudden movements from the goby is interpreted as a sign of danger and is a cue for the pistol shrimp to return to its burrow. In return, the pistol shrimp provides a safe burrow for the goby. The goby will normally be seen on the look out while the pistol shrimp goes about its business digging and scavenging for food until it receives a warning fron the goby! Some gobies that pair up with Pistol Fish are Diamond, Yellow, Pink Spotted and Tiger Watchman gobies and Yasha, Dracula, Orange Spotted and Randall's Shrimp gobies.
These little Pistol Shrimp are really interesting. and I'm sending a video clip of them along with another one of Mikes articles, that to me, ties into both articles. His article is about scuba diving, which is related to the reef & all the little lovelies in the water, but also with the article on Bob Dye, who was known for his descriptive style that was engaging and entertaining, that's how I would say Mikes articles are. For me to be able to stay with the story, it has to keep my attention. and his articles do just that, and are that good! ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc
http://hawaiianlife.com/content/scuba-diving-hawaiian-islands
So, thank you for yet another week of what is happening in the world of Hawaii. Thank you also to my son for sharing this fascinating little creature in the water. I never know where I'm going. I like to keep it current & wait and see what Monday brings! Hope you all have a safe and happy week. Until next time, Mahalo!
Aloha,
Di
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