Mike Severns Diving News and Updates
(Last updated Nov. 2009)

Nov. 17, 2009
As of June we are on Facebook as Mike Severns Diving Crew. We post photos from above and below water most days, and have some wonderful videos of octopus, whales, rays, and most recently - stripeys!

October 28, 2008
seaslugsofhawaii.com by Cory Pittman and Pauline Fiene launches!!!!!!

Sept. 10, 2008
Check out Andy's "Octopus Attacks Alligator" video on YouTube. It looks like a little person!

October, 2006
As many of you heard there was a pretty strong earthquake in Hawaii this month. While damage on land was covered in the news, there was also damage underwater that wasn't reported. In addition to large antler coral colonies broken off at the their bases and tall lobe coral colonies snapped off, there were two more shocking effects. The bow of the WWII Amtrac off Makena Landing broke off (see http://kayakdiver.com/earthquake/index.htm for some excellent before and after photos taken by Jim Spears) and a huge female turtle that we had known for six years was trapped when the roof of her coral cavern collapsed on top of her. None of us had ever seen the underwater effects of an earthquake before.

September 24, 2006
The Maui Reef Fund (to which all of our divers contribute by way of our donating one dollar per diver per day) sponsored an underwater clean-up off the Scenic Lookout. ProDiver Maui donated the use of their boat and crew, and MRF members and one of our frequent divers, Linda Wright, did the underwater handiwork. It's a jungle of fishing line in this particular spot after 50+ years of fisher use and this pile of line and lead sinkers was from just a tiny section of the reef.

December 13, 2005
A new wreck dive has been added to Maui's underwater landscape. For over 30 years, the Carthaginian was a floating museum in Lahaina Harbor dedicated to teaching about the whaling era. Originally built in 1920 as a 97-foot steel-hulled bulk carrier and then converted to a whaling supply vessel replica in 1973, it was sunk off Lahaina to create an artificial reef. Like so many new wrecks, one of the first occupants is a lone frogfish seen here stretched out between some of the rigging. Atlantis Submarine, which was responsible for procuring the deteriorating vessel for an underwater attraction makes hourly dives to it, and divers timing it right can see the submarine go by during the dive.

October 15, 2005
Within a year of arriving on Maui our divemaster Sharon McGauley had her first art show opening on Maui at Viewpoints Gallery in Makawao. See her work at www.sharonmcgauley.com.

September 23, 2005
While diving on the back wall of Molokini today, we measured the longest blue dragon nudibranch ever recorded - 22 cm (about 8.5 inches)! Witnesses included Suzanne Graas who took this photo after the tape measure had been removed. The world record will appear in the new edition of John Hoover's new Hawaii's Sea Creatures book due out early next year.

July, 2005
We saw this turtle for the first time in July. It was clearly the victim of an unsuccessful tiger shark attack as evidenced by the curved upper and lower bite marks on the shell. The wound appears to be healing as we've now seen him for a couple months moving along the south Maui coast.

December 26, 2004
For those of you who remember Stubbi, the tail-less pinktail triggerfish at Molokini, you might as well hear it from us rather than hear it on the reef. As of this week she is no longer at her Reef's End address. We first noticed Stubbi and recognized her territory almost eight years ago and in all that time she never left her home. What we learned from her was that pinktail triggerfish (as do most reef fish) live their entire lives in one small area of the reef, and that female pinktails can lay eggs more than once during the summer/fall nesting season. We knew it was coming - seven years is a long, full life for a reef fish - but it will be a long time before we stop looking for her.

September, 2004
The September issue of I.O.P. (Izu Oceanic Park) Diving News, a Japanese periodical, contained the first description (and photo!) of Tara and Andy's discovery of external incubation of eggs in the cardinalfish Pseudamiops diaphanes. Cardinalfish are known to incubate their eggs in their mouth, but the abstract by John Randall and John Earle describes how Tara and Andy documented an endemic species of cardinalfish that broods its eggs by dangling the egg mass from its mouth - previously unheard-of behavior in a marine fish!

April 12, 2004
Congratulations to Tara and Bo who wed in a beautiful garden ceremony among family and friends. We wish them a lifetime of happiness

December, 2003
The longfin batfish (Platax teira) is a fish not naturally occurring in Hawaii. On December 15, Bo and Andy and their divers were surprised by one at the 85-foot Pinnacle and were able to get a photo, although it was very skittish. Of course we went back the next day to show our divers, but it wasn't there (not surprising considering how uncomfortable it had looked the day before). But we were in for a huge surprise when we jumped in at the St. Anthony wreck for our second dive that day and there it was!!!! The same fish had swum 3 miles since the preceding morning, had found the St. Anthony, and now looked much more comfortable hanging around the wreck. It stayed there for a month, allowing divers within arm's length, but disappeared after some very big surf. If Andy hadn't gotten the photo the first day we would never have known that it was the same fish, never would have dreamed that a reef fish would swim so far overnight. But by comparing the photos it was easy to see that every marking and tear in the fins was a match. As testament to the St. Anthony being a more suitable habitat for it, the tears in its fins healed within a couple weeks. Dr. Jack Randall believes this was an aquarium release as a couple of these have appeared off Oahu, and it is a popular aquarium import.

November 27, 2003
Compare these photos and you will see that it was two different whale sharks that visited Molokini on Thanksgiving and two days later. Hundreds of divers and snorkelers had their once-in-a-lifetime encounter with these two which each stayed around the crater for hours. Something must have attracted them to Molokini at the same time, but what?

October, 2003
Molokini - Hawaii's Island Marine Sanctuary received a 2003 Ka Palapala Po'okela Award from the Hawaii Book Publishers Association for Excellence in a Photographic Book.

August 7, 2003
Christine Smith was the lucky recipient of a green sea turtle's attentions this day. The turtle swam up to her and as she tried to back away it settled right onto her lap! We've had turtles try to burrow under us numerous times but this was a first.

June, 2003
Check the credits of the new Pixar film, Finding Nemo, for special thanks given to Mike Severns Diving. Several years ago, when Pixar was formulating this underwater adventure, director and writer and team came out diving with us to observe and video everything from how sunlight played on the coral, to how fish maneuvered and swam. They were surprised to find out they couldn't observe a living example of the main characters Marlin and Nemo, however, because there are no clownfish in Hawaii.

April 21, 2003
Since our first sighting in October 2001, we have had progressively more amazing encounters with a special wild bottlenose dolphin. It is recognizable by a unique pattern of scratches called rake marks caused by the teeth of other dolphins during playful or agressive interactions. Today it came down and laid right on the sand next to Tara, and Andy photographed her with it. (See the rake marks?) This was not the first time that we have had the opportunity to touch it, but it WAS the first time for this: Tara said she could feel its heart beating!

February 5, 2003
About once every 10 years we encounter the egg mass of a Diamondback Squid. On this day an unusual coastal current had brought in tons of plankton and assorted jellyfish and Joe Laskowski was able to examine this egg mass during his safety stop. Appearing like a very big slinky, the eggs are laid in a jelly-like sac for protection during the weeks of development. Because the Diamondback Squid lives in open ocean, we don't expect that we will ever see one while diving.

October, 2002
Two new books by Mike Severns and Pauline Fiene are just out. Diving Hawaii is a guidebook to diving the Hawaiian Islands with beautiful photos, maps, animal encounters and experiences from divers around the islands. Molokini - Hawaii's Island Marine Sanctuary is a completely new Molokini book published by Island Heritage. About half the photos are new and the text is all new and updated to include spawning discoveries, geologic dates and Keli'i Taua's interpretation of Hawaiian legends pertaining to Molokini. These two books were years in the making.

September 22, 2002
2002 Maui Marathon results are in, and once again the men at Mike Severns Diving ran an impressive race (Tara was injured a week before the race and had to pull out - a big disappointment for her and for the substantial betting pool). All other bets were still on, however, and Bo is seen here paying Andy for winning one of their personal bets.

May 24, 2002
Moku hooniki off Molokai was our destination on this calm Friday, as the water had remained flat for two weeks and we knew it would be a comfortable trip. In addition to the seabed crawling with lined coris harems (something we rarely see) and a giant stingray, all the divers were treated to a tight pack of five scalloped hammerheads, a shark we've been lucky to see every time we've visited this offshore island. Francis Beninati gloated for his instructor friend at home who has been diving with us for years but has never been to Molokai and seen the big boys. The water remained so calm that we circumnavigated the islet on our two dives,appreciating the unique underwater topography.

April 23, 2002
In one of only four such strandings ever known to have occurred in the Hawaiian Islands, a Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) beached itself in Kihei this morning, despite efforts from lifeguards to keep it out in deeper water. Several boats saw it as they left the Kihei Boat Ramp in the morning and said it appeared to be fine, swimming slowly on the surface, but two hours later it had died on the beach. This bizarre-looking 16 foot whale was easily recognized as a mature male, based on the two large teeth protruding up from both sides of the lower jaw. Although the body was pocked with large cookie cutter shark bites, these were not the cause of death. A necropsy was conducted and a study of the sinus cavities in the head is underway to determine cause of death and whether the recently-suspect US Navy's low frequency active (LFA) sonar testing could have been at play. Stay tuned.

January 2002
The Whalesong radio transmitter is up and running as of January 26th and for the second year anyone can hear LIVE humpback whale songs by going to the Whalesong website. Conceived and operated by Dan and Rechel Sythe and their small group of volunteers, they hope to educate, entertain and inspire, and given the interest generated by their site, they already have. Last year they found the songs to be most intense around midnight and the early hours of the morning, so if you're on the mainland, you can listen in on the peak hours while you get ready for work.

October 15, 2001
Touching a dolphin in the wild is almost unheard of, but on Oct. 15. a few lucky people got to do just that. After making several graceful leaps that arced 15 feet in air, this bottlenose dolphin swam over to our swimstep and looked up, allowing us to reach down and touch him on the head. This has never happened to us ever, and it almost seemed as if this were a captive dolphin that had been released into the wild.

July 29, 2001
For the first time since its inception in California 1992, Hawaii participated in the Great American Fish Count this year. On Sunday July 29 we went out with 10 trained fish counters and got in on the action. What an eye-opener! Counting fish is a great way to characterize for yourself the places you are used to diving, and it is also a way to contribute data about trends in fish populations. When you are counting you realize what are the most common fish there because you keep seeing them over and over again - even if you don't want to! The impressive count at Reef's End, Molokini didn't surprise anyone - 91 species!

May 5, 2001
Congratulations to our head captain Vici Tate, who on this happy day wed her soulmate, Steven Tryon, in a ceremony with lots of aloha and laughter. Steven's daughter was "best man" and Vici's sister flew in from New Jersey to be Matron of Honor. Vici and Steven then headed off to the Yucutan for a much-deserved 3-week honeymoon.

March, 2001
The 2001 Maui Marathon has been run! And the report from Mike Severns Diving is way beyond what we expected to be reporting. Andy, who in May amazed us all with the announcement of his intention to run his first marathon, trained like a machine and came sailing across the finish line - a smile on his face - in 4:40!!!! Mike, running in his second marathon, knocked a rocking 40 minutes off last year's time to show up in 3:49. Although Bo was missed this year, his encouragement and taunting were appreciated, and all three say they will be there for next year's Maui race, which has been moved to September.

February 15, 2001
From the February 15 Maui News comes this unbelievable story about a rambunctious humpback off Kauai.

January, 2001
Thanks are due again to all of you who wrote in to Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine and rated us among the Top 10 Indo-Pacific Dive Operators for the second consecutive year! We are all looking forward to sharing more memorable dive experiences in the coming year.

January, 2001
Hawaiian Seashells by Mike Severns, a full-color identification guide for 360 species of Hawaii's seashells, has just been published and will be available within the month from Island Heritage.

September, 2000
Here's a story we wouldn't have believed if it hadn't come from one of our very own dive guides, Kiwini. He was leading snuba divers at Molokini (his "day" job) when he pointed out a yellowmargin moray nosing around the bottom. It headed toward a rock where an 18-inch baby whitetip reef shark was resting and began to poke around where the shark was. It then began to EAT THE SHARK. No kidding. Head first, and eventually got it all in except for the caudal fin (tail). After about 10 minutes of seeming to try to swallow the rest of the shark, the eel SPIT IT OUT. The shark appeared dead, as it was lying on its back, but after 2 minutes it righted itself and appeared to be fine. Now, that is definitely one for Divers' Believe it or Not.

August, 2000
A new wrasse known so far from Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka was named for Mike by Jack Randall and David Bellwood in the Journal of South Asian Natural History in June. Pseudojuloides severnsi is in the same genus as our Smalltail Wrasse (Pseudojuloides cerasinus) in Hawaii.

August 5 , 2000

Brought up from great depth by fishermen, this small female shark was discarded at the Kihei Boat Ramp today. Called a shortspine spurdog (Squalus mitsukurii), it is named for the sharp spine just in front of each of the two dorsal fins. As divers, we will never have the opportunity to see this shark in the wild, because it lives between 500 and 1500 feet! It had beautiful large aquamarine eyes for seeing in the reduced light at depth. At 2-and-a-half feet it was just a foot short of maximum size for the species. A once-in-a-lifetime sight for all of us!

July, 2000
Jennifer (and a leafy sea dragon!) graces the cover of Ikelite's new catalog.

July, 2000
Turtle researchers in Hawaii have tagged thousands of green sea turtles here over the last 25 years. George Balazs, founder and head of this program, has tagged and tracked the life histories of over 6,000 of them. Each of the turtles' four flippers is fitted with a stainless steel tag stamped with a number. In case one - or even three - flippers are lost to sharks, the turtle's identity can still be determined. Each time a tagged turtle is sighted the information is entered into a huge database, monitored by Balazs. His life's work, he is still thrilled with each bit of data recovered. During July we were able to read tag numbers from two different female turtles in the Kihei/Makena area which, he told us, have moved to Maui from the Big Island! While the vast majority of the hundreds of turtles tagged off the west coast of the Big Island appear to remain there, several have moved to Maui to live. George believes that limited foraging areas may cause them to move as they mature and need more food to survive.

For a look at how George's epic turtle tagging operation got it's start, visit http://www.turtles.org/ffs/ffs25.htm

July, 2000
Hawaii marine life author, John Hoover, was over from Oahu for the summer coral spawn. In addition to the always amazing spawn, we had a great night dive with two species of squid, a rare 9-inch "clumpy" nudibranch (page 159 of Hoover's Hawaii's Sea Creatures), gray reef sharks, crocodile eels, the endemic magnificent snake eel and a sand octopus feeding. Nancy Steele of Maui won the trivia contest and an autographed copy of John's new book.

April 9, 2000
Pu'u ola'i mooring pins were put in place today - the first moorings to be installed on Maui's south coast since the Five Graves moorings three years ago. Rough seas and low visibility were the conditions for the team that assembled to do the dirty work. Volunteer divers from Maui Dive Shop, Ed Robinson's Diving Adventures, Hawai'i Wildlife Fund and DLNR joined Bo, Andy and Kiwini aboard Pilikai which we donated for the day. Many moorings are yet to be installed at other locations, including the final Molokini moorings. Once those are in place, anchoring will be kapu (prohibited) at Molokini forevermore.

March 19, 2000
After 6 months of coaching by veteran marathon-runner, Bo, Mike ran his first marathon the day before his 50th birthday. Mike and Bo ran the first 9 miles of the Maui marathon together, then Bo ran on ahead to be sure his apprentice didn't get to the finish line first. They both ran a great race. Watch for Andy to join them next year!

January 28, 2000
Yes, they finally did it! Jennifer and Al were married in a touching ceremony near the ocean on the morning of January 20th. Her son and daughter were best man and maid of honor, and Jennifer was radiant as they escorted her into the park. We wish them many happy years together.

January 11, 2000
This was a banner day for lucky finds! Jim Sawyer and family from Northfield,   Minnesota, who've been diving with us since 1988, were diving with Andy when he found the first whale barnacle of the season. Measuring two inches across, this large, white acorn barnacle was a passive hitchhiker all the way from Alaska.  Acorn barnacles live attached to the whale's skin and flourish in the colder feeding grounds of the humpback whale. But warm Hawaiian waters are not suitable habitat and many of the barnacles drop off. Still, it is rare to come across one on a dive!

On the same dive, Pauline's group came upon a completely exposed, but heavily encrusted, pottery inkwell. Nearby Makena Landing was a major landing on Maui for over 50 years until 1912, and hundreds of steamships called here to take on produce, poultry and live cattle.

After a few hours of cleaning, this well-preserved piece of Maui's history emerged.

January, 2000
The January/February issue of Sport Diver magazine features Mike Severns Diving in an article by Rick Gaffney about our one-of-a-kind coral spawning charters. The author writes, "After years of study, the staff at Mike Severns Diving has determined the exact time when cauliflower coral spawns off the Hawaiian islet of Molokini... no one else is offering divers dependable access to such a singular experience." This has taken us years to develop, and divers are just blown away with the precise timing and large scale of the spawning.

January, 2000
Mike Severns Diving was rated one of the top ten Indo-Pacific dive operators in Rodale's Scuba Diving magazine, Jan. 2000. A minimum number of responses is needed to even be considered in the ratings, and we sincerely thank all of you who took the time to write in and rate your experience with us!

January 8, 2000
Famed ichthyologist Dr. Jack Randall flew over from Oahu and dived with us in January, still taking pictures for his eventual comprehensive Hawaii fish book. Jack has described (given scientific names to) over 400 species of fishes during his career, more than any other fish scientist during the last century (that's the 1900's), and he is still describing new ones at a feverish pace.

December,  1999
Divemaster Andy and his group were closely inspected by a Hawaiian monk seal at Molokini in late December. Not the amorous seal from years past, Andy noted that this seal was tagged, and the seal approached so closely that he was able to read the tag numbers. Thea Johanos of National Marine Fisheries Service was able to tell us that this was a 2-year-old female monk seal born in Kaupo, Maui in 1997 and that this was the first reported sighting of her at Molokini. It is thought that her mother has given birth to two more pups in 1998 and 1999. Great news for Maui's monk seal population.

November, 1999
Kathleen Andrews sent this beautiful photo she took of Jennifer getting her teeth cleaned and wrote:  "I just wanted to thank you for the great dive trip I had done this past November with your dive organization.

The 2 dives I completed were probably the most enjoyable dives I have done in a while due to the pre-dive orientation led by divemaster Jennifer. Thanks again for the great day!"

November, 1999
After nine years of making his home in a tiny plot of reef at Molokini, our little male damselfish with his distinctive bite mark finally passed away. Hundreds of our divers have photographed and repeatedly visited him over the years, day and night, and we will never forget him or the territory he defended for so many years.  

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