Honu Friends

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 turtles:
Kai ("sea")
Male, left side missing front flipper, top of shell is bumpy, right side of shell has parts of scutes missing. I was unable to get a picture of his face because it was stuck under another turtle's flipper.

Makapoku ("maka" = eye, "poku"... I forgot)
Female, tumor on right eye.

Monamona ("round woman")
Female, very large, white stuff all over shell

It is worth noting that I have not seen Anuenue or Nalu since I named them, but this may also be because they are very difficult to identify from a distance. They don't have any distinctive physical features.

As an aside, I forgot to mention that every time we see a turtle with a fibropapilloma tumor or a number marked on its shell, we take a picture and send it to NOAA. This helps them keep track of which turtles are where, and the extent of the fibropapillomatosis disease. Turtles with numbers are ones who have been seen at the French Frigate Shoals, one of the tiny northwestern Hawaiian islands. This island is where the female Green turtles lay their eggs.

The first picture is Kai, the second is Makapoku, and the third is Monamona.

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