MLAR Honu Checkup

On Tuesday, 11/30/2021, the HPA Middle School’s Turtles and More Club traveled with Laura Jim and Marc Rice to measure, weight and tag 4 green turtles during their monthly health assessment.  These turtles are captive reared turtles from the Oceanarium “Sea Life Park” on Oahu.  Four to six month old turtles are sent to the Mauna Lani Auberge Resort and they are raised at the hotel for 2 to three years before they are release into the wild during “TURTLE INDEPENDENCE DAY” on July 4th of each year. This is an environmental education program that has been running for over 30 years.

The students from grades 6, 7 & 8 were amazingly attentive, careful and cooperative during the 2 hour process.  They were involved in moving turtles from the holding tanks, weighing, measuring and marking each of the four honu.  Once the measuring and health assesment was done, each turtle was taken by the students back to their pond.  At the end of the day, we gathered for juice and reflection on the activities of the day.  The students expressed their appreciation to Pi’i Laeha and Ethan Sousa (MLAR’s Malama Honu program curators) for allowing us to join them during the monthly honu checkup.

Below is a short video of some of the activities that occurred on Tuesday and a drawing by one of the HPA Middle School students.