Blaisdell Center Fish

The other day, I wrote about tilapia mysteriously appearing in the Hawaii State Capitol’s reflecting pool.

That reminded me of some fish I’ve seen recently at the ponds between the Neal Blaisdell Center Arena and the center’s Galleria exhibition hall.

There’s quite a variety of fish there, and I certainly don’t pretend to know all their names. But I do recognize a few.

Tilapia

For example, there are hundreds of tilapia there (y’know, the biblical fish that fed the multitudes). In addition to the regular ones, there are some orange ones. At least I think the orange ones are tilapia – they hang around together.

Humuhumunukunukuapuaa

A couple of the Hawaii state fish – humuhumunukunukuapuaa – zip around the pool at the water’s surface. It’s easy to locate them, just look for the “moving V” ripple. It’s difficult to photograph these guys because they move so fast and there’s a lot of reflection on the water.

Barracuda

Then, I’ve seen a couple of barracuda. They just hover there … waiting … watching … smiling evilly. I wonder what they’re looking for? The Blaisdell pools are sometimes used by homeless to bathe in. Maybe the barracuda were put in there to discourage that?

If you see someone pushing a filled shopping cart around, limping … maybe, just maybe …