It seems I just got signed up for the National Park Newsletter, receiving some mails everyday now about upcoming activities where volunteers are being required or asked for their help, but also receiving the volcano updates from HAVO and also from the Kilauea Status at HVO, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory of the US Geological Survey.

It seems that Kilauea has started breathing a bit more actively than in the recent past, with quite a bit of fluctuation of the lake level at Pu’u O’o and Halemaʻumaʻu Crater lava lakes as well as … active lava moving towards the ocean, and actually inside the park (so expect some interesting hikes to these remote areas if this continues on during my presence, which I hope really bad!).

Kilauea active lava

While currently there is no lava entry into the ocean, this would be the crown of the spectacle and will hopefully happen anytime in the near future again, like during my 2008 visit to Kilauea, as depicted here. This picture was taken during a field excursion that was really a unique experience, as we were accompanying a National Geographic Film Crew working on an IMAX film – the only possibility to get beyond the standard visitor boundaries, and really a lucky chance to not only photograph a long-time exposure of the lava explosions hitting the cold ocean water, but also the lightning strike in the background due to the high static loading in the air when the lava hits the sea.

Kilauea Lava Flow at Ocean Entry