October 5, 2015 Big Lava Plume
Pele’s plume from the Pu’u ‘O’o vent stretched southeast over the Pali this morning as the 61G flow continues unabated. The vent’s lava lake was visible, but largely obscured this morning. About a mile and a half down the path to the ocean we discovered a large gaping skylight. the break in the tube allowed us to see lava coursing by, feeding the ocean entry some six miles from the vent. Like moths to a flame, another similar skylight just a quarter mile or so above the ocean entry is attracting numerous visitors. The hot molten rock snakes beneath and into the Pacific Ocean. The eastern ocean entry is extremely robust now… the western one has stalled out recently, part of its bench having collapsed earlier this week. 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. It’s truly a sight to behold! Bruce Omori, Special Guest, Jeff Jung and I were back with Paradise Helicopters’ superb pilot, Robert Mitchell. Mahalo, Rob… you da man!!
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure