The active lava flows of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii seem to have more twists and turns than a daytime soap opera. Sometimes lava flows are predictably steady – staying in the same spot for months. In recent months, the lava break outs and new ocean entries have been popping up in one place, ceasing, and then popping up in a new spot.
I wanted to share links, recent photos and videos with excellent views of the lava flow.
* The following USGS photo shows an aerial view with a visible ocean entry plume. If you click on the image, you’ll be able to see a larger view. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the lava immediately behind the ocean entry is a lighter shade of gray – that’s the active stuff.
* This next USGS photo shows an different aerial view of a thermal image meshed with a standard photo.The red, pink, and yellow areas represent the heat emanating from the active lava flows.
* Hawaiian Lava Daily has posted some very useful aerial photos of the flow action.
* Bo, a neighbor to the current lava flow periodically posts videos to YouTube of the lava activity. In the following video, he shows a new pahoehoe lava flow that’s trying to make it’s way to the ocean. (Email subscribers, please click here for lavaloverbo’s video.)
Then, Bo filmed a follow up video a few days later showing how the lava has advanced towards the ocean. From the sounds of it, we can expect a second lava ocean entry most any day now. (Email subscribers, click here for that video.)
I should note that Bo is much closer to the active lava than the general public is allowed approach. Bo is a resident of Kalapana Gardens where the action is happening.
* Big Island Video News has a great update of the Kalapana lava flow showing a new lava breakout as well as the ocean entry.
* This video link from Big Island Video News describes an upcoming special talk aimed at island residents. The talk itself may not be of interest to you, but the video footage is excellent.
If you’re headed to the Big Island and have lava viewing high on your vacation list, please check out my article Advice for Viewing the Big Island Lava Flow.
Sheila Beal
2 comments
Wow, this is one hot post! I lava the flow of your writing! 😛
Those videos are awesome. On my last trip to the Big Island we couldn’t see any flowing lava, it was very disappointing. 🙁 Hopefully we’ll have better luck this summer, especially with the kids in tow.