Above is an animation of a post-nesting hawksbill turtle named Makala as she migrates from her nesting site on Moso Island, Vanuatu to her home forage grounds. She has traveled over 2136 km so far and has reached the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. She may be very near her home forage grounds at this time.
It is the mission of Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy’s Sea Turtle Research Program to contribute towards the conservation of sea turtles worldwide through education, research, and advocacy, working with students and community members to actualize their passion and commitment to a healthier marine environment.
Upcoming events & activities
The HPA Sea Turtle Research Program has 33 trained and active student volunteers. Each of these students has completed the mandatory training sessions on sea turtle biology and field work protocol. Each of them is qualified to participate in field
We have completed all three field days this semester (Kiholo, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park and Puako). In addition, we have worked with Malama Na Honu at Mauna Lani Auberge Resort on 5 occasions to complete a monthly checkup on their honu. During the second semester we are planning trips to Hualalai, Hilton Lagoon Punalu’u and Puako. In addition we will be traveling with students to the Republic of Vanuatu to continue our research into post-nesting hawksbill migrations and to Nagoya Japan as part of the STRETCH project
Please visit Our Recent Trips Page for a list of activities that we have completed this year
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH IN VANUATU
HPA’S STRP has carried out three trips to the Republic of Vanuatu to satellite tag post-nesting hawksbill turtes in an attempt to better understand the nesting population on Moso Island and learn more about the home foraging grounds of nesters that travel to Moso Island.
We have completed our research trip for 2023. You can see some of the results here.