Sea Turtle Research Program (STRP), Marine Biology, SCUBA
MARINE STUDIES -FEBRUARY IN REVIEW Aloha all, Sharing some summaries of our marine studies programʻs (supported by Robyn, Marc and myself) successes and exposure these past few weeks primarily in the area of sea turtle research. A few highlights below. Annual 4th Grade PresentationContinued our collaboration and support of Colbyʻs amazing place-based program with a presentation …
44TH ISTS, KONA, HAWAII The 44th International Sea Turtle Society Symposium is being held in Kona, Hawaii from March 2 to March 9, 2026. This symposium bring nearly 700 sea turtle scientists, volunteers, NGOs, and other groups and people interested in sea turtle ecology, biology and conservation. Laura Jim and Robyn Scarth promoted a Honu …
KAHO honu health assessment (2/24/26) Laura Jim, Robin Scarth. Marc Rice and 7 HPA students traveled to Kaloko-honokohau National Historical Park to conduct a honu health assessment/tagging. We were joined by special guests Akwasi McLaren, Ketty McLaren and Andy Agyekumhene, all from Ghana. Also joining us were Rosanne Shank and George Balazs. We were assisted …
HPA STRP Responds to a turtle with fishing line STRP Co-Director Laura Jim received a call from a concerned family vacationing at Puako reporting that there was a small honu that had a fishing hook and bobber tangled around its flippers. The first day they called the honu left the area before we could get …
Honu Health Assessment- 1/20/2026 Laura Jim, Robyn Scarth and Marc Rice were joined by 10 HPA STRP student research volunteers to conduct in water capture work, data gathering, tagging and recording during a honu health assessment at the Hilton Waikoloa Hotel Lagoon. During the day we were able to capture and process 14 honu. …
KEEP PUAKO BEAUTIFUL OCEAN STEWARDS Laura Jim, Tani Cordiero and 4 HPA student volunteers joined the “Keep Puako Beautiful” organization to help with a coastal cleanup at the Kawaihae Harbor area. The day was beautiful and calm and the community was able to retrieve roughly 75 pounds of trash from the Kawaihae harbor area!
RESULTS FOR 2025 Laura Jim writes: The West Hawaiʻi Fishing Line and Cigarette Butt Program—run by Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy’s Marine Studies Program, Keep Puako Beautiful and Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail—launched in April 2022 with just two recycling bins. Today, the program maintains 13 fishing line recycling bins across West Hawaiʻi, including 11 in South …
Hawaii’s migratory wildlife The local library in Waimea held a public awareness event highlighting the migratory animals that occasionally or periodically visit the Hawaiian Islands or surrounding waters of the central north Pacific Ocean. Robyn Scarth, Tani Cordova, Rella Yoshida and Marc Rice represented HPA’s Sea Turtle Research Program at the event highlighting the current …
HPA STRP GHANA, AFRICA RESEARCH PROJECT Goal of HPA Sea Turtle Research Program’s Ghana Research Trip October 23, 2025 Visit the Blog to Follow the Olive Ridley Turtles Soyo and Korkor The program seeks to initiate a satellite telemetry project in Ghana to investigate the post-nesting migrations of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). This …
5th Annual Sea Turtle Workshop Hawaii Pacific University Laura Jim and Marc Rice traveled to Honolulu this week to join the rest of the STRETCH Team for a one day “next-steps” meeting and one day of presentation on STRETCH topics at the 5th annual Sea Turtle Workshop hosted by Hawaii Pacific University (Friday, Oct. 10, …