Parrotfish Portrait

An uhu turns close enough for every scale to become its own jewel. Turquoise flows into electric blue, coral pink, and violet around a bright watchful eye and the strong beak that gives the parrotfish its name.

That beak scrapes algae from old coral, helping keep the reef open for new growth. Grain by grain, what passes through the uhu also becomes part of the pale sand along Hawaiʻi's shore.