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1 May 2000

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Millions of people watched lava entering the sea (red glow in distance) during a live broadcast of NBC's Today show from the southeast coast of Kilauea. The show began a few minutes after 1 a.m. in Hawai`i. Here the NBC crew is setting up for the broadcast near the entry just east of Waha`ula.

4 May 2000

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A cluster of three skylights (lower left, best seen in large image) along the master lava tube in the Smoke flow about halfway up Pulama pali. From a distance at night, this cluster looks like a single glowing hole, termed Cyclops in the daily updates. Note the complex lobes of pahoehoe and the scorched vegetation along the flow margin.

5 May 2000

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A series of narrow lava benches have formed along the coastline west and east of Waha`ula, because lava is, or was, entering the sea at many locations over a 2-km wide area.

9 May 2000

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Aerial view of Pu`u `O`o looking southwest. Thick fume (mainly steam and sulfur dioxide) has obscured the crater for the past few months, making observations difficult. Note fume rising from pits on the shield (left) portion of the cone.	Aerial view of the tube-fed Smoke flow descending Pulama pali on the east side of the flow field. Fume comes from skylights along the active tubes. Narrow dark `a`a flow in center is breakout of May 6-7.

15 May 2000

| med | large |	This view is northwest across the coastal plain of Kilauea from Waha`ula to Pu`u `O`o (high point on skyline). Lava flows through several tubes between Pulama pali and the sea, frequently breaking onto the surface and widening the active flow field toward the east (right side of photo).
| med | large |	This view is northeast from Waha`ula toward Kalapana. The private access road to Royal Gardens subdivision is visible in center of photo. The most recent flows are in the bottom half of the photograph; darker flows in the distance were emplaced between 1986 and 1992.

22 May 2000

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Hot rocks, broken from active ocean entry (just off top of photo) and deposited by surf on new black sand beach. Streamers of steam blow downwind after water sloshes across the rocks.	Inactive, fume-shrouded bench just east of left-hand photo, showing natural arch (just above small black sand beach) formed by wave erosion. Most such arches are ephemeral, as the pounding waves take their toll.

25 May 2000

| med | large |	This view is northwest across the coastal plain of Kilauea Volcano. Lava flows about 11 km through tubes from Pu`u `O`o (skyline) down Pulama pali and across the coastal flat into the sea. The largest steam plume (lower right) is near the former Waha`ula Visitor Center and Heiau, covered by lava in 1989 and 1997, respectively.
| med | large |	Close view of the Waha`ula entry and the narrow lava bench formed this year. The bench is below a sea cliff, which has eroded back into flows emplaced during the 1990s.
| med | large |	In this view the east edge of the active flow field is visible near the bottom of the photograph; the young flows have a lighter tone than do the older flows. The young flows cover the private access road to Royal Gardens subdivision (gray line in bottom center).

Large map. Map shows lava flows (red) on Pulama pali and coastal plain active since October 1999, as well as flows erupted earlier from Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha. Compare this map with that for the previous updates to see how the flow has widened eastward between Royal Gardens and Waha`ula. Lava reached the ocean at the Lae`apuki bench on December 17-18, 1999; this was known as the West flow. The West flow has been inactive since early April. The eastern part of the active flow field reached the Royal Gardens private access road on January 11 and entered the sea near Waha`ula on February 3-14, 2000. The flow descending Pulama pali to feed this area is the Smoke flow; it is currently the only active flow.

Eruption-viewing opportunities change constantly, so those readers planning a visit to the volcano should contact Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park for the most current eruption information (tel. 808-985-6000).