Endangered Species: Honu, the Hawaiian Sea Turtle

Turtle enthusiasts are spreading the word about saving this threatened species from extinction. Sea turtles evolved 180 million years ago, long before the Hawaiian Islands were formed. For turtles, Hawai`i is a luckier home than some other places. When Christopher Columbus sailed through the Caribbean in 1503, he saw so many green sea turtles that he named three islands Las Tortugas. He called the turtles the most valuable reptiles in the world, and they were soon exterminated for their shells and flesh as the western hemisphere was explored and exploited.

Hawai`i's isolation - particularly with uninhabited islands on the northern end of the Hawaiian chain where turtles can nest in peace, has helped maintain a population of Hawaiian Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) through historic times. While native Hawaiian law limited harvesting of the ocean, modern federal and state laws were enacted just in time to protect turtles from overhunting in modern times.

With hunting banned, Hawai`i's turtle population is growing, but a new disease called fibropapilloma has become a modern-day threat with its devastating effects, blinding and choking turtles with tumors easily observed and abhorred by snorkelers and divers. Fibropalilloma, which is poorly understood, is the subject of study by The Honu Project, which tags and tracks turtles in an attempt to to understand the disease. Volunteers often donate boats and time to help with this project, among them Adventures West, of Kaua`i, which takes enthusiasts SCUBA diving to see the turtles.

Information on the lives of Hawaiian turtles and updates on ongoing research can be found on the Internet. Turtle Trax is an online newsletter provided by SCUBA diver/turtle enthusiasts Ursula and Peter Bennett of Ontario, Canada. They document the lives of green sea turtles, particularly those living off West Maui at Honokowai, a turtle house where turtles gather to enjoy being cleaned by a variety of fish. Turtle Trax includes photos and notes about individual turtles, and suggestions on helping to save the turtles. It particularly focuses on documenting the new disease, which may be caused by chemical runoff from the shoreline.

Turtle Trax also documents careless activity, such as discarding fishing line that wraps around turtles, and littering the ocean with plastic bags, which turtles could ingest as if the bags were delicious jelly fish. Turtle Trax and George Balaz of the Turtle Recovery Program suggest that anyone concerned about turtles remember the following: sea turtles are under threat; too many turtles are still being killed; turtles breed very slowly, it takes more than 20 years for turtle mothers to have babies; our island's turtles are unique - once they are gone other turtles will not voluntarily nest on these beaches; save turtles for our children - kill fewer, or none at all; don't buy or sell turtle souvenirs; report tagged turtles and pick up fishing line and plastic bags found in the ocean.

Another good source of turtle information is a pamphlet called Hawaiian Sea Turtles, published by U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service in cooperation with Center for Marine Conservation, Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island, and the University of Hawai`i Sea Grant Extension Service. It includes sections on biology of the sea turtle describing these graceful saltwater reptiles with streamlined bodies and flipper-like limbs-able to swim long distances (up to 800 miles within the Hawaiian Islands) in a relatively short time. It describes their active life of swimming to the ocean surface to breathe every few minutes and their resting periods in a cave or under a ledge for as long as 24 hours without breathing. It explains that between 100 and 350 females return to land each year to lay about 100 eggs at night, most likely on the same beach on which they were born. After about two months of incubation, the hatchlings break out of the nest, but only a few make it past the birds and crabs on the beach and avoid the big fish in the sea to become adult turtles. The two predators of adult sea turtles are sharks and people, with the tiger sharks taking in turtles as a regular part of their diet.

The state and federal government have formed a Turtle Recovery Team to gather information and help design education, management and law enforcement to ensure turtle conservation. Current laws prohibit the public from harassing, harming, killing, or keeping sea turtles in captivity without a permit. Even riding turtles is illegal since its stresses these beautiful sea creatures.

The Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island releases hatchlings each year into the ocean.

The Honu Project has produced a video called Fall of the Ancients-Hawaiian Green Turtles In Crisis. The Honu Project; P.O. 61499, Honolulu, HI. 96839

Turtle Trax on the internet: http://www.io.org/~bunrab/toc.html e-mail: howzit@io.org

Marine Turtle Newsletter subscriptions : Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, 2595 Ingraham St,. San Diego, CA 92109

Adventures West: http://www.travelbase.com/activities/scuba/adventures-west/ e-mail - Rdaley@aloha.net