Marine explorations academy students visit MLAR
On Wednesday, July 28th, 30 students from the Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Summer Marine Explorations Academy visited the Mauna Lani Auberge Resort’s fishponds and their Mālama Honu program. Established in 1989, the Mauna Lani Hotel partnered with Oahu’s Sea Life Park to raise some of their captive bred honu (green turtle). They send threatened green sea turtle hatchlings to Mauna Lani to be fostered and protected in the resort’s saltwater ponds until the hatchlings meet the appropriate size for release into the wild.
The class represents a diverse group with students from China, Taiwan, Mexico, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Canada and Japan, and the U.S. states of Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and Kentucky. The students were introduced to Hawaiian fishponds, their care, maintenance and ecological balance as well as the cultural history surrounding them. They were also introduced to the two honu (green sea turtles) that will be released next week on July 4th as part of the resorts long-running Turtle Independence Day.
The two honu were weighed and measured as part of their monthly health assessment and the students got to observe and participate in the process.
