Torching

Here's another really cool Hawaiian experience:

This week we went "torching" up on the North Shore with some friends from our church.

Torching involves heading to the beach late in the afternoon with bright flashlights or lanterns, nets, and buckets.

When it gets dark you walk out into the ocean.

You have to go when the tide is low so you can walk out far enough.

You shine your lights into the water to attract fish.

And you use nets to catch them.

The lanterns (or "torches") make some interesting effects on film.

We caught a bunch of bright blue needle fish. They are quick and can jump. You have to be fast to get them with the net. I don't have a picture of them. Sorry.


We caught a puffer fish, but I didn't get a good shot of him either. The reflection makes him difficult to see.

We did catch this fabulous eel.

We put him in a bucket and he actually jumped out of it.

Much screaming ensued.

We also watched a sea turtle swim right by us. I wish I had gotten a picture of him, but my flash wouldn't fire!

There was also a nifty little cave that is exposed when the tide is low. All the teens climbed into it and came out somewhere on top of the hill.

We released all the fish when we were done. I wonder what the fish think of this whole ordeal? Do they go back and tell their friends and neighbors that there was a bright light shining on them from nowhere, and suddenly they were snatched into another world where they were examined by aliens and then put back in their own world?

I wonder if fish have their own National Enquirer?