92PBR

The HPA-STRP Directors Laura Jim and Marc Rice traveled to 92 Puako Beach Road with 11 HPA students where we were hosted by Ava Williams (’81) and her guests Mike and Andrea.  

The purpose of the trip was to capture, tag, record body measurements, and conduct health assessments of honu (green turtles, Chelonia mydas) that live in the waters of the Puako reef shallows.

The 11 students that participated in the day’s activities are all certified members of the STRP team and had undergone 4 classes on the biology and ecology of sea turtles and how to work safely with honu in the field.  Ten of the eleven students had been on previous tagging trip.

We were able to capture and process 12 honu during the period from 0830 to 1500 hours.  Eight of the honu were captured for the first time and 4 of them were recaptures.  All honu were safely returned to the water approximately 30 minutes after capture and were all marked with a specific number so that residents and visitors can report them to the NOAA by emailing the information to [email protected].

Here is what you can do:

• Be on the lookout for turtles with a white number on their shell
• Keep a respectful distance of 10 feet if you spot one
• Take a photo of the number, without disturbing the turtle
• Record the date, time, and location—include the name of the beach/body of water, a dropped map pin, or GPS coordinates
• Email [email protected] to report the turtle’s number and sighting details

The numbers of the turtles we released at 92 PBR are designated by an “HA” and a number… for example “HA117.”  We would appreciate hearing about any sightings you make of our numbered turtles.  The more information we have on their whereabouts and behavior the better we are able to help manage the population.