FLYING TO CAPTURE THE MAGNIFICENT SIGHT

As lava oozed from Kilauea's Pu'u O'o crater last week, a helicopter tour company was flying overhead to capture the magnificent sight.

And just as they peaked down at its lava lake, Kilauea looked back and gave a big smile.

"We visited the vent and found a beautiful lava lake within to the west, and a great deal of lava moving quickly through a skylight on the northeast corner," Mick Kalber with Paradise Helicopters posted to Facebook.

It was inside that lake where they saw the cartoonish smile.

For 33 years, Kilauea's lava has burned a gradual path to the Pacific. However, this past weekend marked the first time its molten rock has reached the ocean since 2013.