Tourists, man! I'm telling you!
No turtles last night. We will see what tonight brings!
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 turtles.
The turtle in the above picture has a fibropapilloma tumor growing under its eye. These tumors affect Green sea turtles and are caused by the Fibropapilloma virus. The incidence of tumors is higher in turtles that inhabit more polluted waters, so scientists believe that pollution has something to do with the virus. There is no cure. The only option is surgical removal of the tumor. If surgery is not possible, the tumors may grow all over the turtle's soft tissue and prevent it from seeing or eating.
Unfortunately, there is not a sea turtle hospital on Maui. The HWF woman I talked to said that they used to fly the affected turtles over to a treatment facility on O'ahu, but they don't have enough money to do this anymore.
For a while, tourists were respectful and stayed 15 feet away from the turtles. Then a couple came striding through the group of turtles and almost stepped on one's tail. They began taking pictures. Almost immediately, the rest of the tourists overstepped the signs and came closer.
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.
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| View on the way to Ho'okipa beach |
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| 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 turtles.
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| There are five turtles in this picture. Some of them look like rocks. |
The turtle in the above picture has a fibropapilloma tumor growing under its eye. These tumors affect Green sea turtles and are caused by the Fibropapilloma virus. The incidence of tumors is higher in turtles that inhabit more polluted waters, so scientists believe that pollution has something to do with the virus. There is no cure. The only option is surgical removal of the tumor. If surgery is not possible, the tumors may grow all over the turtle's soft tissue and prevent it from seeing or eating.
Unfortunately, there is not a sea turtle hospital on Maui. The HWF woman I talked to said that they used to fly the affected turtles over to a treatment facility on O'ahu, but they don't have enough money to do this anymore.
For a while, tourists were respectful and stayed 15 feet away from the turtles. Then a couple came striding through the group of turtles and almost stepped on one's tail. They began taking pictures. Almost immediately, the rest of the tourists overstepped the signs and came closer.
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| These people are being very disrespectful |
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| All it takes is a few reckless people to break the rules and everyone else follows suit. |
Joe and I were both infuriated. At Joe's encouragement, and after taking a moment to gather up my courage, I stepped up and told everyone that sea turtles are critically endangered animals, and that disturbing them is illegal, so please stay 15 feet away! Some of the tourists backed off but others did not.
Then a woman wearing a HWF t-shirt came over and cordoned off the area with a rope. She was very upset. "It is sad to use the rope, guys!" she scolded. "People like you don't respect the turtles!"
Joe and I watched for a while as more and more turtles came ashore to bask. We chatted with the HWF woman for a while. Apparently at sunset, hundreds of turtles come and fill the beach. Unfortunately, due to stupid people disturbing the resting turtles, the gate to the beach has to be closed before sunset, so it's not possible to see them up close. I'm going to figure out a way to get to this beach at sunset and watch from the overlook.
At 6:45, Luke, the head of the Hawksbill nest watch program, picked me up from the hostel and we drove 45 minutes to Big Beach on the south of Maui. There is very little light pollution here and SO MANY STARS are visible! It was magical.
I set up my hammock and fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing against the shore. At 10:30 I woke up and sat next to the nest, using red light to check every five minutes to see if there was any activity. Nothing happened, and the next person came at 11:30 to watch. I went back to sleep.
No hatchlings last night. Maybe they will hatch tonight!
Anna, your dismay at the indifference of the tourist to reasonable requests to respect limits on one's curiosity is great to see! So glad that you did you could to persuade them to respect the sign's intent. It reminds me of the dreadful conclusion to my summit of the "Hanging Lake" trail just east of Glenwood Springs last summer. The lake is not just a stunning visual treat, but is the pristine home of a certain endangered species (I can't remember if it was piscine or amphibian). A little friendly sign was all that stood between tourists who wanted to "tightrope" into the middle of that pond on a very slippery, partially-submerged, moss-covered, dead tree-trunk, for a photo-op in the middle of this jewel of a natural wonder. The sign clearly explained the reason for the prohibition: Certain common bacteria and fungal spores not found in that little ecosystem, and harmless to the fauna native where those bugs are native, are deadly to the endangered species who have no means of fighting them. For that reason, shoes, sandals, and bare feet, and sandals must stay out of the lake at all costs. But NO, I saw tourist after tourist make the perilously slippery creep out to the end of that tree trunk and then mug for their friend holding their cell phone back on shore. I had to shake my head at this shameless display of ignorance and selfishness. It kinda took the fun out of the trip up there for me. I later encountered a Forest Service employee at the bottom of the trail and told him they needed to install a camera with face recognition up there and then bill the violators a hefty fine. He agreed but shrugged his shoulders and said there was no room for it in the budget. So we have to keep at it, but not lose our sense of humor in the process. You, happily, have not!
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