Saving the Honu

Well, I'm back home now. Arkansas home, anyway. It's difficult to have two homes because no matter where you are, part of you is always missing the other home. I must admit that I didn't realize that I missed Arkansas. Of course I missed my cats, but I forgot about the charm of crunchy leaves underfoot, a cup of hot coffee on a cold morning, and the frosty anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I came to Hawaii expecting to help save the turtles, which I did, and that is magnificent. I am so honored to have been able to help them and to leave a positive mark on the environment. I did not expect to grow and change so much as a person. I've noticed that people on the mainland socialize by complaining. One person will gripe about some aspect of their life, and then someone across the table will try to one-up them with a bigger complaint. "You think that's horrible? Well today my boss asked me to do something that I don't think I should have to do! L...

Today we went to Volcano National Park. One of my most vivid childhood memories is watching LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow, standing on a lava field, explaining the difference between Pahoehoe and A'a lava. I became obsessed with volcanoes. I wanted more than anything to see all those things for myself. (Well, okay, maybe I wanted a pony more than anything. Pahoehoe and A'a were next.) And today, twenty years later, I got to do just that!!!!! We arrived late on purpose, because the lava flows are most spectacular at night. We set out across a huge expanse of hardened lava, trying to reach a flow in the distance. The hardened lava is iridescent and it sounds like breaking glass as you walk. Steam rose from the ground. We stepped over deep crevices in the ground and as it got darker, I looked down in a crevice and was terrified to see a thin line of glowing red lava. Well that explains the hot ground. At that point I realized that I was basically playing a live action plat...

The past few days have been very slow. The swell has been huge. This means the sea level is really high and there are a lot of big waves. Beaches have been closed because it's dangerous to get in the water. The storm and the swell brought in a lot of debris and driftwood and now the water is brown and gross near the shore. When the swell is so big, the turtles stay in the water. There's no point in coming on the beach to bask because they'd just get washed right back out to sea. We don't really know where they go. Maybe around to the other side of the island, or maybe they hide out in underwater nooks and crannies and lava structures and small caves. So no swimming, no turtle-watching, and no turtles. I've been filling my time by updating my travel journal (which I have neglected for far too long) and working on an essay. The essay is a summary of what I've learned during my time here. It's something that interns do so they can put their experience on thei...

I learned a very painful lesson this week: Never bring sea creatures into your home. Yesterday I came home from the beach to find a horrible smell in my bedroom. I recognized it as the smell of dried ocean, but with something rotten added. I checked the shells that I had gathered the day before, and found to my dismay that the most beautiful one was the source of the smell. Can you believe that? One little shell was smelling up the entire room. I always try to make sure there are no sea creatures living in the shells that I pick up, but I guess this one was tucked away so far back that I couldn't see it. I couldn't pull the dead animal out with my tweezers so I ended up just putting the shell in the flower bed in the front yard. This is very sad because I was so excited when I found this shell. This morning I woke up to the same smell, except this time it was worse. I don't know what I did wrong but somehow the barnacles died in their jar of seawater. Seriously? Six litt...

There's not a lot to report turtle-wise. I go to Ho'okipa every day, keep away the rude tourists, and talk to the respectful ones about turtles. It's been raining a lot recently and the ocean has been pretty violent. The lifeguards sometimes put up a no swimming sign, and this is very helpful because it means that the tourists don't complain about the swimmers. "Those people are swimming and there's turtles in the water. Why can't I go take a picture right next to one of these turtles?" Well, it's a public beach and there's only so much we can do. People are allowed to use the water. But that doesn't mean you can go stand next to one of these turtles who are all trying to get some beauty sleep. Of course this explanation only gets groans, grumbles, and from time to time no response whatsoever. So I really like the no swimming sign. A couple of nights ago there was a huge storm and the entire island lost power. Apparently this happens ev...

Luke sent an email a summary of the nesting season results. With his permission, I'm quoting some of it here. "For the entire season we had around​​ 650 hatchlings from 900 eggs, or 72% success! Many of those hatchlings wouldn't have survived without our help, including the 120 hatchlings from the relocated nest #2, over 80 that were released from the other three excavations, and many more that wouldn't have made it due to crabs, heat, or disorientation on the beach. Our work is crucial for this critically endangered species, ensuring they continue to nest on Maui and survive in Hawai‘i." YAY!

A few days ago I was awakened by a loud crash on the roof. I looked out the window to see an entire frond of our coconut tree lying on the ground, with several large coconuts still attached. Neil was on the roof, learning how to harvest coconuts. He had also harvested one of the branches on accident. (Picture below.) (The title of this post has nothing to do with Neil. This was just a funny experience.) (Lauren, Neil, and Gigi are my roommates.)  There is a pumpkin patch on Maui! Lauren and I went to see it. It was nice to have a little bit of fall.  The pumpkin patch is upcountry, which is much cooler than the beach. After the pumpkin patch, we drove through a tiny little town whose name I can't remember, and Lauren showed me the coffee shop where she sees Owen Wilson sometimes.  Have I mentioned that Owen Wilson lives on Maui? I haven't seen him. Supposedly he's off island shooting a movie right now. Gigi said that he is kind of rude. One day she was walking to the groc...

Magda introduced me to Rikki. He's in his 70s with dark skin and a shock of wild white hair, and he's lived in Hawaii all his life. He wears an orca tooth on a leather strap around his neck, which is the sign of a warrior. He is a fantastic guy. He's very spiritual and knows all about the island. He is against statehood -- apparently before Hawaii became a state, there was an opposition. I had no idea about that. part of the movement was that some women went door to door with a petition and got 3,000 signatures. Rikki wants to see Hawaii become its own nation again. Rikki thanked me for what I'm doing for the honu. He gave me his phone number and said to call him if anybody tries to give me trouble about the turtles. Sometimes at night at Ho'okipa, after all the tourists are gone, Rikki sits with the honu and plays his nose flute for them, and they know him and trust him. (Click on the link to see a nose flute. Basically it's a flute made of bamboo and you bl...

I finally got a Hawaii Wildlife Fund volunteer T shirt! I'm official! This is really great because it means that when I ask tourists to stay away from the turtles, there is a greater chance that they will listen to me. Allow me to illustrate. One day before I had a shirt ( actually things like this have happened many days )  some people were standing very near the turtles and I yelled at them to please stand back, but they paid no attention. I was very angry. The respectful tourists were upset too, and I wish I had a hat or shirt or something to make me look official so people would listen to me. One woman in particular would not listen to anything I said, and continued to stand right next to the turtle and take selfies with it. When she was walking away, she tripped on a rock. I laughed.  The very next day I got my shirt. I was at the beach with Magda, and she gave me the clipboard and said, "Today is your day. Name some turtles and take data." I named three new turtl...

Today I went surfing. Rather, I should say that I learned how to surf. This morning my roommate Lauren said she was going surfing with some of her friends who are beginners, and offered to teach me. So of course I said yes. Lauren is a fantastic teacher. She chose a beach where the waves were small, and stayed with me while her friends went off to surf. She was patient and encouraging. The most difficult part is paddling from the shore to the waves. I felt like my arms were going to fall off before I had even started the surfing part. I thought of the hatchlings and how much energy they have, sprinting down the sand to the ocean. And they don't even stop there. They keep going once they're in the water. I wished I had a yolk sack but that wouldn't do me much good because the real problem is my weak muscles! Now I understand why all surfers have perfect bodies. Finally after paddling out far enough, it was time to learn to stand up. You spread out your hands on the board...

Each hatchling could be the one in 1,000. 10/4 This morning after we had put away all our camping things and we're walking to the car, a couple of women we're walking up with six cups of coffee! I recognized them from yesterday. They were had stopped by to look at the nest, and we got to talking and joked about how the volunteers needed coffee in the morning. I was surprised that they actually did it! It was awesome. They also brought sugar, vanilla syrup, coconut milk, and a spoon to stir with! I  was so exhausted from all the nighttime hatchlings over the past few days. I got a couple of hours of sleep before Luke called saying that he was going to the beach at 11. Of course I wanted to go with him. When we got to the beach, a hatchling was just entering the ocean. Lots of tourists were watching and cheering. This morning the sand was so hot that it would fry a little hatchling. The volunteer at the time said that she had let the hatchling crawl to the end of the shady pa...

Sorry for the long silence. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep recently, as you will soon see. On October 2nd, I walked down to Ho'okipa Beach. Magda was there. With her permission and instruction, I started to walk among the turtles and see if Nalu or Anuenue were there. Before I got very far, I got a call from Luke. He asked if I had checked my email. Funny how I've been checking my email compulsively but the one day that something important actually happens, I don't check it. Apparently around 30 hatchlings came out of nest 4 last night. Camping  for the nest watch was supposed to start tonight,  so I was very surprised at this news! Fortunately for the turtles, there just happened to be a few volunteers at the nest because Hannah (the woman who is the head of the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, I don't remember if I've talked about her before) had a hunch and went down to the beach. More turtles were hatching when Luke called me. I freaked out and got to the beach as q...

Magda is teaching me about identifying individual turtles.  Some turtles have very obvious individual characteristics. Ruby has a brown shell. Manini (Hawaiian for "small") is really small.  (I have not been able to get a picture of Manini because he only comes up  after it's too dark to get a good picture, but he's absolutely adorable.) Greenie's shell has a spot that is dented inwards, most likely caused by a collision with something.  Other turtles have to be examined more closely. Each individual has a unique pattern of scales on their head,  like a fingerprint. It is important to count the number of scales because that differs as well. You can look at the tail to see if the turtle is male or female. Males have really long tails, useful for grasping onto females during mating. Females have short tails. You can also take note of any fibropapilloma tumors or abnormalities in the fins, such as if part of the fin is missing.   As I was learning all thi...

Recently I'm spending most of my time at Ho'okipa Beach, watching the turtles come and go and collecting data. Yesterday there was a turtle almost completely buried in sand. At first I thought he was a rock but then I saw his tail. There is a picture of him below. It is very easy to mistake the rocks for turtles, and the turtles for rocks. Sometimes turtles come up on the  middle of the beach instead of the corner where they usually are, which makes it easy for people not to notice them if they're not paying close attention. A lot of tourists almost walk over the turtles, and when we ask them to move away, it's really entertaining to see their reactions as they realize that the rock is actually a turtle. Two days ago a girl screamed  in shock and almost dropped her phone. It was hilarious.   Most people are respectful and stay behind the line while they take pictures, but of course there's always a few that are really rude. There was one twenty-something Canadian gi...

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days. Things have been very busy! Sometime on Saturday, somebody found a dead hatchling in a hole in the sand. The hatchling was on its back. It had most likely flipped over and been unable to right itself, and died from exhaustion and dehydration in the sun. The hatchling had been missed by whoever was supposed to be following it. This got me thinking about natural selection and survival of the fittest. Scientists estimate that only one in every 1,000 sea turtles lives to adulthood. What if this had been the one? There is nothing to suggest that this turtle was unfit. True, it couldn't turn itself back over, but that is a small thing compared to all the instincts necessary to survive and grow to adulthood. The hatchling was obviously headed towards the ocean. That's a big deal when you think about the hatchlings that I chaperoned last night, who couldn't seem to go the right way. It was fully formed and had enough energy to get t...

As most of you probably know from Facebook, the hatchlings arrived last night. It was an amazing experience. I have no pictures because hatchlings are extremely sensitive to light, so the area had to be completely dark except for one red light. This made it very difficult to see anything so instead of looking for hatchlings, I just looked for dark moving spots. Our team of volunteers saved several of the hatchlings from the crabs roaming the beach. (Unfortunately, a crab did pluck the eyes out of a hatchling and run off, so we lost that one.) Many hatchlings became disoriented and tried to go the wrong way, but we guided them to the ocean. Several fell into holes but we picked them out. Many flipped over on their backs and we turned them right side up. In short, if we hadn't been there, who knows how many of the 217 babies would have been lost. Human intervention can be a good thing!! The first sign of a nest beginning to hatch is a depression in the sand. This is caused by the ...

For the past couple of nights, we have watched the nest carefully. No activity so far. As I said, I moved into my new house yesterday. I really like my housemates. Gigi is in massage school and works at a boutique in town. Neil works at a restaurant down the road. Lauren is studying organic chemistry. The house is nice and open wih big windows, but its all disorganized and the floors are very dirty. They have a broom but no mop and no vacuum. I went into town today to try and find a mop with no success. there are plenty of clothing and surf stores but you can't buy a mop anywhere.  So I bought some groceries instead and decided I'll clean the floor of my bedroom Cinderella-style, on my hands and knees. Fun fact: The eggs are buried about a foot beneath the surface. The first sign of hatching is a depression forming in the sand. This is caused by the sand falling between the cracks of the broken eggs as the hatchlings break out. The depression grows larger and larger, and af...

I moved into my rented room today. Pictures later. No hatchlings last night, but I'm about to leave for tonight's watch, so we'll see what happens! Fun fact: temperature is one of the hatching triggers. Nests tend to hatch when it's cooler.

No turtles last night. We will see what tonight brings! Yesterday, Joe and I decided to hike to Ho'okipa beach on Maui's north shore, where Green sea turtles come to bask in the sun. So far I am really impressed at how clean the beaches are here! The most litter I've seen on a beach is a bottle cap and a pop tab, although I've only been to four beaches and I know there are about a million.  On our way to the beach, I was at first happy to see that there was very little litter along the roadside. The farther we got from Paia, however, there was more and more litter. Fortunately, plastic shopping bags are illegal here, so there weren't any of those.  View on the way to Ho'okipa beach Ho'okipa beach overlook After walking for an hour, we finally made it to the beach... and there were the turtles!!! There were five of them all basking near one another. Signs surrounded the area instructing people to stay 15 feet away and not disturb the tu...

After a grueling journey (including a 12-hour layover in SFO which involved sleeping on the floor), we have finally arrived in Maui! We checked into our hostel in Paia, on the north shore of Maui, and promptly went to the beach with a group. It is so beautiful here. I feel like I'm living in a postcard. I saw the hawksbill nest that I'll be watching and it gave me chills. The surf is brutal, though... I felt like I had run a marathon after 20 minutes fighting to stay afloat in the waves. Turtle watching starts TONIGHT at 7:30! I'm so excited! The nest could hatch any day. Fun Fact: (actually kind of a sad fact) -- the Hawksbill turtle is so endangered that only one female has laid nests on the entire island of Maui this whole season. She laid four nests, which is about average (most females lay between 3 and 5).

... remember to avoid buying products made of turtle shells! Even though it's illegal, many souvenir shops and markets still sell things made of these endangered animals.

I made some pages with information about sea turtles. Take a look! These fish are cleaning a sea turtle by eating the algae and microorganisms off of its body. Delicious.