Professional photographer David Jordan of Volcano was at one of two points where lava was entering the sea at about 7:40 a.m. Sunday when he noticed an increase in the steam plume at the western entry about a quarter-mile away. He said he saw several explosions blast debris 100 feet into the air and saw a nearby nesting colony of noddies take flight in panic.

"I crossed over to the western entry to check things out and saw the ocean full of brown debris for about a quarter-mile offshore. All of a sudden a huge red crack appeared and peeled off into the ocean with more explosions," said Jordan, who makes daily treks to the eruption and said he always sees people entering unstable lava benches. "There was absolutely no warning, no noise, just a long red crack 100 feet long and then it peeled off."

At least 2,000 people a day have been traipsing to the lava flow in recent weeks, according to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park ranger Mardie Lane. To view surface and ocean flows, visitors must walk a half-mile along the end of Chain of Craters Road and three-quarters of a mile over lava fields.

Rangers have marked a trail, and a temporary visitor station is showing a video 24 hours a day on the dangers of collapsing lava benches, Lane said. Rangers also set a rope perimeter to designate potentially hazardous areas.

"Had they been standing there Sunday, they would be toast," she said.

"Nobody wants to stop and be informed before they go out there. People drive down there and are mesmerized by the sight of the steam cloud. They get out of their car and they get tunnel vision and head right for the steam cloud. They just don't see anything else."

Kilauea has been erupting since January 1983, when lava began pouring from Pu'u 'O'o vent on the volcano's east rift zone. In April, a magma breakout dubbed the "banana flow" started advancing down the Pulama pali, eventually reaching the coastal flat May 2. It began spilling into the ocean May 30 or 31.

Sunday's bench collapse was small compared with previous events. In December 1996, a 27-acre bench fell into the sea without warning.

The flows have led to deaths and injuries:

• In April 1993, a Kona photographer entered a closed area and disappeared when the half-acre lava shelf he was standing on collapsed into the sea. More than a dozen other people standing nearby were injured by flying debris.
• In 1994, two people standing near the water's edge at an ocean entry site were caught off guard by a sudden wave and were severely scalded, requiring hospitalization.
• In April 1998, a Laupahoehoe resident slid down the side of a coastal lava cone and dropped into the ocean. He is still missing and is presumed dead.

Jordan, the photographer, was present when 13 acres of the Wilipe'a bench dropped into the ocean in 2002. "Those explosions were substantial. They went on for an hour and a half," he said.

He recalled seeing people on the edge of the bench just 10 minutes before that collapse.

"People think there's nothing to worry about; it's just rock and you can stand right out there and walk out to the very edge," he said.

Jordan, who said he is drawn to the volcano's dynamic environment, said lava-viewing can be safe "if you keep your wits about you."

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.