I Malama Na Honu: Taking Care of the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

Photo clockwise from top left: Releasing a tagged turtle, Group photo with Dr Balazs and Park Ecologist Sallie Beavers in front row kneeling, transporting turtles to tagging station, Dr. Balazs collecting limu samples from turtles mouth, Honu Hawaiian green sea turtle, weighing a captured animal.

Park staff, volunteers, and a local school group captured, tagged, and released 32 honu or Hawaiian green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, along the coast of Kaloko-Honokohau NHP on the Big Island of Hawaii on October 4. Part of an ongoing joint project with the National Marine Fisheries Service, marine turtle program director George Balazs regularly comes to the park to tag and release green sea turtles. Through the Park and partnerships with Hawaii Preparatory Academy, University of Hawaii-Hilo, and local volunteers, studies are underway to learn more about the turtle's general health, growth rates, feeding habits, behavior, and habitat use, as well as the nutritional content of forage. Kaloko Honokohau NHP hosts a significant population of juvenile green turtles. This population is one of the few in the Hawaiian Islands that have not been stricken with a fatal tumor-disease known as green turtle fibropapallomatosis. The disease causes large tumors on the turtles' eyes, mouth, neck, flippers, and internal organs. The Park ecologist and the National Marine Fisheries Service are keeping a close eye on the turtles to protect them from the disease. "The healthy juvenile turtle population at Kaloko Honokohau NHP may be vital in the future to the perpetuation of the Hawaiian stock of green turtles" says park coral reef ecologist, Sallie Beavers.

Why is a Historical Park researching turtles?

The archeological sites and restoration projects are only part of the story of Kaloko-Honokohau NHP. Nearly half the park is under water and the coast supports a significant coral reef. Sea turtles are an integral part of the parks' many marine resources that are enjoyed by the public and are studied by the staff and other researchers. Honu are regularly seen basking on the beach, feeding in the shallows, and visiting "cleaning stations" on the reef where small fish pick parasites from the turtles' bodies. They are one reason the park staff includes a coral reef ecologist.

The ties between the traditional culture of Hawai`i and the honu run deep. Legends abound of the gentle creatures that frequent the coast feeding on seaweed, called limu. In one such legend from the Big Island, Kauila is a sea turtle that turned herself into a young girl during the day and watched over children as they played along the shore. Many Hawaiians consider the honu as the embodiment of ancestors, called aumakua. Others regard the animal as a prized and nutritious food source. If this creature disappears, then these valuable components of the Hawaiian culture are lost forever.

Coral reef studies and other scientific pursuits help preserve these cultural values by providing a natural history framework in which to interpret and explore the cultural importance of these resources.

For additional information contact Marine Ecologist Sallie Beavers at 808-329-6881

For Immediate Release: October 8, 2002
Contact(s): Dominic Cardea, 808-329-6881