Ocean Jewels

Around this time of year, humpback whales make their yearly migration to Hawaii. When I sit out in the early morning surf, the sight of a whale breaching, or slapping it's tail against the ocean's surface never fails to inspire awe. It's pure magic to know I am sharing the same space with a creature that weighs several tons. Sometimes they are so close you can smell the fishy ocean in the spray from the whale spout. I've been exploring some Hawaii themed images. The one I'm sharing today is of diatoms. They are the microscopic plant life that are part of plankton. Whales grow to their enormous size simply by eating about 4400 pounds of plankton every day. They do this by filtering the ocean water through their baleen. These tiny jewel like diatoms which we can not see, sustain the lives of these magnificent 30-50 ton creatures—beautiful.