August 4, 2016 Lava Delta Forming
Sorry… no smiley faces today… but the Volcano Goddess Pele continues to dance with her sister Na Maka, the Goddess of the Sea! Lava touched the ocean early Tuesday morning, and has begun building a delta at the Kamokuna entry point. Fluid pahoehoe has repeatedly covered the newly completed access road and is now about a quarter mile wide. Pele rolled over the Pali a month ago, mostly between Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision. This new flow, dubbed 61G is now about 6.5 miles long, and the ocean entry is within the boundary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Only a handful of visitors made their way on foot this morning, but three tour boats were on hand at sunrise to take in the amazing spectacle of hot liquid rock interacting with the Pacific Ocean. A large crack above the lava delta demonstrates the instability of the area, which could collapse into the sea at any time. At the own risk, many gawkers stand at the edge of the cliffs to get a glimpse. We visited the vent today as well, and, once again were able to access the steamy lava lake within the vent to the west… but saw no faces smiling back at us! As usual, a great deal of lava is moving quickly through a skylight on the northeast corner, feeding the ocean entry downslope. Leilani the Hula Girl and Lava Ducky joined us today, along with special guest from Houston, Gaylen Madison. Bruce Omori and I were back with Paradise Helicopters’ master pilot, Robert Mitchell. Mahalo, Robert… youre a wizard at the stick!
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure