Mele Kalikimaka

I have never had a  white Christmases in Hawaii, but that doesn’t make me appreciate the holidays any less. In case you’ve ever wondered how we get Christmas trees here in the Islands, let me show you.

Hawaii, Oahu, snorkling, free diving, Christmas, xmas, tree, christmas tree, underwater, mele kalikimaka, ocean,

The best christmas trees in Hawaii are harvested straight from the sea!  However, one does not simply go Christmas tree fishing at any time or place.  Marine Christmas tree season is extremely ephemeral.  They only seem to proliferate during a king tide approximately 24 hours after the autumnal equinox (This observation is purely anecdotal though).

Hawaii, Oahu, snorkling, free diving, Christmas, xmas, tree, christmas tree, underwater, mele kalikimaka, ocean,

Further increasing the difficulty of the hunt, Marine Christmas tree do not occur in waters shallower than 280 fathoms, due to their symbiotic relationship with “marine snow” which are only found in significant amounts below these depths. Do not be thrown off by the brightly lit photos, I had to free dive over 300 ft deep…

Hawaii, Oahu, snorkling, free diving, Christmas, xmas, tree, christmas tree, underwater, mele kalikimaka, ocean,

Approaching a wilde Marine Christmas tree is not for the faint of heart.  You must show no fear and never, under any circumstance, make eye contact (as this could be perceived as an act of aggression).  There are no words to describe the horrors of Marine Christmas tree attacks.  Always approach them slowly, with your hands in plain sight.  If you are pure of heart, and sometimes bearing gifts, they may tolerate your presence or even allow you to touch them.

Hawaii, Oahu, snorkling, free diving, Christmas, xmas, tree, christmas tree, underwater, mele kalikimaka, ocean,

Calling these organisms  “trees” is a bit of a misnomer, as they are actually a colonial group of tiny animals known as Needles of pine.   Marine Christmas Tree Quality Assessment (or MCTQA for short) is point system, enforced by the federal government of Greenland, used to evaluate the worth of a specimen and wether or not it is of legal stature to harvest.  The specimen’s score is determined by counting the total number of Needles of pine (worth 1 point each) as well as adding up the amount of balls (1000 points each).  The balls are not just for show; they are actually gonads. The more red the balls, the more fecund the individual.  The star at the top indicates it’s a male.  The star not only serves for esthetic reasons, as a display to impress females, but it is also used in extremely violent territorial confrontations with other males (they can stab each other with them, but they typically just throw them as projectiles).

The harvesting of Marine Christmas trees is a contentious subject, as it is an extremely endangered species.  Last year a survey estimated that there were only 34.5 individuals left.  Although these majestic creatures used to be abundant across the world’s oceans, many populations were extirpated by the spread of the invasive Christmas Manatee, which fed exclusively on Marine Christmas trees.  As we all know, Christmas Manatees ended up going extinct once their food source became to scarce.

After spending nearly 4 hours at the bottom of the ocean (single breath hold) with this specimen, we could not help but bond with each other.  It allowed me to gaze deeply into its green, bushy eyes and what I saw loneliness.  The Marine Christmas tree was an orphan. It telepathically communicated to us that it’s parents were mauled by a Christmas Manatee during the last king tide.  After experiencing such an emotional roller coaster, I could not leave it alone in the deep dark ocean for the holidays.

So I uprooted it and brought it back home for Christmas.

It was its first glimpse of the surface. It had never seen anything like it before.

Selfie with our new Marine Christmas Tree.  Maybe we will make it our holiday greetings card!

Most important part of bringing aquatic christmas trees on land is to rinse them down real good after pulling them out of the ocean.

Not so bad looking

Hawaii, Oahu, snorkling, free diving, Christmas, xmas, tree, christmas tree, underwater, mele kalikimaka, ocean,

If anybody is still reading this ridiculousness, I hope you enjoyed the images. They seemed like a good idea, but were much more difficult to capture than anticipated.  All the ornaments wanted to float off the tree, so we had to tie them down.  The tree itself was also naturally buoyant, and no matter how much sand we put in its holding dish, it would always float up after about 15 seconds. If I were to redo this, I would need to figure out a better anchoring system and also have one or two more people to assist or take the photos.  Overall it was hilarious and a memorable time.  Photo ideas are not always realistic though…



8 thoughts on “Mele Kalikimaka

  1. Ryan December 13, 2017 / 1:38 am

    You’ve been incubating this fun and satire for some time, huh? Good stuff! And Merry Christmas from a white Christmas state.

    • Sunshine December 15, 2017 / 1:09 am

      Thank you very much and Merry Christmas to you too!!! Ya I don’t know what got in to me on this one Hahaha…

  2. bespoketraveler January 10, 2018 / 9:03 am

    😁 Incredibly creative. I can only imagine how complicated it must have been to put this idea into motion and make it work out for the post! Hope your island holidays were fun. Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou!

    • Sunshine January 10, 2018 / 8:20 pm

      Thanks! It was a bit challenging, but we had a lot of fun with it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

  3. Rich February 1, 2018 / 11:21 pm

    This was hysterical! Nicely done!

    • Sunshine February 11, 2018 / 11:52 pm

      Thanks!! I don’t know what came over me to write all this…

  4. Jonelle February 17, 2018 / 3:33 pm

    Amazing Fun! Being from somewhere that naturaly has Christmas trees growing all around. I very much enjoyed a look at the treasures. of the marine Christmas tree. I am headed to the big island in a couple weeks, and i cant wait.

    • Sunshine February 22, 2018 / 2:50 am

      Hey thanks!!! I’m stoked you enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real christmas tree growing ever lol. But we do get Cook Pines here in Hawaii, which sort of look like giant christmas trees.
      The Big Island is one of my favorites. There are so many adventures to do there. It’s unreal.
      Hope you have an amazing experience. Aloha!

Comments are closed.