'Opihi Man by Punaguy
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
A young man risks his life picking a Hawaiian sea shell delicacy. Opihi's live where the pounding waves are the roughest, and the terrain treacherous. Each year in the islands we lose on average 3 Opihi pickers to the sea. Ophihi's are eaten raw, with seaweed mixed in for taste. A gallon of Opihi goes anywhere from $90-120 depending on the time of year.
Limpets are common snails found on rocky shores throughout the world. But the four species which occur in Hawaii are endemic, found here and no where else! The most common species is the "blackfoot"

Comments (20)
Ooohhhh, what a shot you have here. Hope he had a good haul.
Wow,thats some shot,what a dangerous thing to do. Excellent capture and job here.
fantastic shots!!... luv the crop of the first one in the thumb but this looks super too! great info too!! :d would like to try it
I'm very surpise that this guys is wearing a back pack. But he seems to be following the rules of picking opihi. Never take your eyes off the ocean waves. Excellent capture of this opihi man. E Luau kakou. Maika'i. ps. Have you ever seen an opihi race?
Well, have you tried them??? Are they good??? They must be to be such a delicacy!!! Excellent capture!!!! Thanks for the info too!!!!
I grew up eating this. They are a little chewy, but quite flavorfull. It's a treat at luau's. I call them "Hawaiian Escargo".
What an exciting way to make a living...definitely for the young. Excellent capture and very informative caption. Appreciate you taking the time to tell his story.
Very interesting story on this very special shell :)) Thanks for the nice documentation :) and your shots are beautiful too :) Very impressive scenery :))
fantastic shot..such movement..and very interesting story behind the pic
These are great shots, and very interesting information behind them. Thanks very much for sharing this with us!
what an impressive and exciting capture! also the interesting info is! wonderful and excellent presentation! fantastic work! thanks!
Fabulous pair of shots, and thanks for the fascinating info : what a dangerous way to earn a living.
Excellent capture. I do hope he never becomes one of the statistics mentioned in your article. And just where were you standing when taking this photo?
I always enjoy reading/hearing about how people make a living off the land in ways that are new to me. May be an old famaliar custom to you, but to me it is fascinating to learn about. Thanks for taking the time to explain the Opihi Man !
WOW... those are fantastic shots! ** Thanks for the interesting info... didn't know before! Impressive!
Great shots, reminds me of the stories I heard from lobster divers in the Caribean and the losses they incurred every year due to getting the bends. I especially liked the top shot. Really gives a sense of the pounding waves.
Thats what you call living on the edge! You had a great vantage point to capture this. The white water is spectacular, this brave guy is pretty spectacular too...ahem...A very interesting story to go with the pics, perfectly done =)
wow - grat presetation - aplauses..I didn;t know about this "opihi"..nut now i do know smth...thanks! nice shot!
Excellent pictures and wonderfully explained about Opihi's. Yes they look incredibly dangerous to harvest but then again I supose most harvesting from the sea is very dangerous just by nature.
great photo, interesting info.....