PUHI

PUHI(s) ARE ARE SOFT WATER EALS.














They are games for the house dog Capus (a short name for Sac a Puce: bag of flees). It likes to walk along the water to watch the Puhis swimming on the top of the water. Capus gets very excited with a constant bark here and there...


A Puhi is very important to keep a spring alive. It is constantly looking to keep the flow of a spring free from any obstruction. It looks for new garleries in order to bring underwater lakes to spring out from the Earth.

A Puhi is a natural vacuum cleaner. It sucks up any dead creatures that might have fallen into the water.

A Puhi is different from a sea eal. It cannot harm you. A sea eal could section your fingers if it felt agressed.

The soft water Puhi has teeth as a grater. If really bothered it can only scratch the skin of your fingers but not more than that.

Puhis are wonderful creatures. They are very friendly and live in harmony with us. When bathing in the spring, we are gentle we them.. We protect them and love them like any of our children.








In our family we say that the Puhi symbolizes the Mother or Grandmother Energy. We rejoice when it comes to us. It brings back memories of our lineage. The last one of the lineage was our Grandmother Toimata. We think that she is with us when we find ourselves around the spring and bathing in it. We think of all the Mothers before her that contributed to nurture that spring. After a swim in that water, our body, soul and spirit feel cleansed, light and at peace.

Puhis like to live in cool temperature water. They can get out of the spring to get to the lagoon for hunting purpose. It is part of their survival instinct.

While swimming with them, little, my kids used to like to hold them. To the touch they are kind of slippery. They don’t stay in your hands very long. There are times they come very close to you and in between your legs. Ha ha ha O.K right it is kind of a strange feeling sometimes.

Puhis look scary to some but they are in reality very nice creatures and great gardians of springs.

Stay with me…I will show you pictures of a school of Nato (fish), of Osha’a(s) (shrimps), kokopu (fish), Jack-Fish, tilapia and shells. They all in their own way contribute to keep the spring clean and alive.



Here is a picture of Nato(s). As you notice one of them is going for the french bread (baguette) that is floating at the top of the water.















Mother Osha’a with its baby.














Kokopu(s) come in different colors














A jack- fish. It is very unsual to see this fish survive in soft water.














Shells to keep the rocks of the spring free of algie.













There are tilapias as well but I had a hard time to approach them.

I would like to thank Puatea and her companion Angelo who were very kind to let me borrow their underwater camera. We can all thank both of them for these beautiful pictures.








Written by Tararaina