October 20, 2016 61G Flows On
(Lovely slack key guitar music by Hilo’s own Ben Kaili… mahalo, Ben!)
Pele’s plume from the Pu’u ‘O’o vent and the ocean entry this morning floated southward, as the 61G lava flowed on. The vent’s lava lake was mostly visible, as the recent rains abated overnight. Almost at the top of the Pali the large gaping skylight we saw last week was still much the same. The break in the tube allowed us to see lava coursing by, feeding the ocean entry some six miles from the vent. Very few visitors had walked to the ocean entry by daybreak this morning, none was at the skylights just above the road… and oddly, there were no lava tour boats at the ocean entry. The lava delta is growing daily. The eastern ocean entry is extremely robust now… the western one officially dead. Pele continues to form new black sand beaches along the coast near her ocean entries. The hot lava’s interaction with the cold seawater shattering the flow into bits that are then tumbled into submission. A very heavy lava entry has caused littoral explosions lately… but much of the lava is obscured from view. Still a magnificent sight for visitors on foot, by boat or in the air! Bruce Omori, Special Guest Jason Chan, Leilani, Lava Ducky and I were back with Paradise Helicopters’ chief pilot, Pete Stachowicz… great flying with you again, Pete!
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure