I did read the article in the Honolulu newspaper that Fabio refers to
with some apprehension.  I have been SCUBA diving and shell collecting
here in Hawaii for 37 years and I have seen( and sometimes collected)
Cypraea tigris on many occasions.  If you study a map of the Hawaiian
Islands you discover that only a small percentage of the coastline is
accessible to shell collectors and SCUBA divers.  There are hundreds of
miles of coastline and thousands of square miles of underwater habitat
(20 to 100 feet in depth) that are not accessible to SCUBA divers
because of rough water and distance from boat harbors.  Windward Oahu
has produced  the largest specimens and also some of the smallest
specimens that I have found.  Indeed the coastline that the writer
refers to is extremely difficult to access by boat outside the reef for
SCUBA diving and I have only been there a few times even though it is on
my side of the island.  And yes I have collected Cypraea tigris outside
that reef.  Aloha, Keith Zeilinger

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