04-03-2013, 05:24 AM
I was a fixed-wing tour pilot and made almost daily visits to the ocean lava entry points for a period of years. I have to say that film/video I've seen of lava tour boats and others offshore the ocean lava has been pretty alarming. Last night on the local news there was footage of some kayakers only a few feet from the shore and flow.
The bench collapses are probably quite brief, I only witnessed one during the years that I was flying tours, but the event was an explosive shock, and watching it in flight offshore made it quite clear to me how hikers have been killed in the area in the past. When the weight of the burgeoning mass becomes too much for the semi-solid structure of the bench where it sits on the steep submarine slope, it separates from the shore and slides underwater. When the fracture I witnessed with my two Japanese passengers occurred in the skin of the ledge and the collapse initiated, the molten core of the bench was briefly visible before the sudden release of this extremely hot mass caused an immediate and violent reaction with the ocean water - which vaporized explosively. Solid and molten rock was flung hundreds of feet through the air in all directions, including offshore. Scalding sea water, vapor, and other gases were released and eventually rose several thousand feet as we circled, the heated plume eventually caused clouds to form as the heated moisture-laden air rose into the cooler higher altitudes.
Witnessing this from our safe altitude was a revelation, I simply hadn't understood the nature of the bench structure which is not solid but a molten mass skinned with a layer of cooler solidified lava that cannot support the bench after sufficient accumulation has built up. When this inevitable moment arrives the mass separates from the shore and slides down the steep submarine slope. I suppose Shane and other mariners who approach the area may understand this, and some may assume the risks hoping that a collapse won't occur during their approach. I did not understand it, and submit this account because there may be some boaters who are as ignorant as I was before I witnessed an actual collapse and realized the dangers posed to viewers who approach the area too closely.
The bench collapses are probably quite brief, I only witnessed one during the years that I was flying tours, but the event was an explosive shock, and watching it in flight offshore made it quite clear to me how hikers have been killed in the area in the past. When the weight of the burgeoning mass becomes too much for the semi-solid structure of the bench where it sits on the steep submarine slope, it separates from the shore and slides underwater. When the fracture I witnessed with my two Japanese passengers occurred in the skin of the ledge and the collapse initiated, the molten core of the bench was briefly visible before the sudden release of this extremely hot mass caused an immediate and violent reaction with the ocean water - which vaporized explosively. Solid and molten rock was flung hundreds of feet through the air in all directions, including offshore. Scalding sea water, vapor, and other gases were released and eventually rose several thousand feet as we circled, the heated plume eventually caused clouds to form as the heated moisture-laden air rose into the cooler higher altitudes.
Witnessing this from our safe altitude was a revelation, I simply hadn't understood the nature of the bench structure which is not solid but a molten mass skinned with a layer of cooler solidified lava that cannot support the bench after sufficient accumulation has built up. When this inevitable moment arrives the mass separates from the shore and slides down the steep submarine slope. I suppose Shane and other mariners who approach the area may understand this, and some may assume the risks hoping that a collapse won't occur during their approach. I did not understand it, and submit this account because there may be some boaters who are as ignorant as I was before I witnessed an actual collapse and realized the dangers posed to viewers who approach the area too closely.