Kaloko-Honokohau Tagging Trip

 Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park (KAHO)

Field Work October 20, 2022

Laura Jim, Marc Rice and 11 HPA students traveled from HPA to KAHO to conduct a one day capture / recapture tagging trip at one of our site where we have been working for many years.  Because of Covid we haven't been there for 3 years.  At the invitation of Kaho's Biologist/Acting Division Lead, Natural and Cultural Resources Jackson Letchworth, we arrived at the park with our equipment at 0835 and were helped with the unloading by a whole bunch of wonderful park personnel.  We got to work as soon as we were set up, done with introductions, and had been given a little background about the park.  

The capture teams went north to Zone C to start with and were soon back at the working area with 3 honu.  We began weighing, measuring and. recording data right away and by 1130 hours we had completely worked up and released 9 honu.

After a nice lunch we got back to work and were able to process 6 more honu before we had to depart for HPA's campus.  It was a very busy, wonderful day and we were very thankful for all of the help and camaraderie that our hosts provided.  

In total we captured 15 honu (8 recaptures and 7 new captures)

The mean average of straight carapace length was 54.0 cm

The Median straight carapace length was 52.8 cm

Below are a gallery of pictures from the days work:

The shoreline of our work area at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Site.

Our work site.

Our turtle sign to let visitors know what we are doing.

Students and Park personnel out on the reef flat looking for feeding honu.

Bringing a captured honu back to shore.

Laura Jim and student bring a honu up to the workup area after 

Transporting a honu in an animal carrier.

Applying paint to an etched number on the left scute of a honu prior to release.

Students preparing sampling equipment for use.

Making sandwiches for lunch.

The chow line!

Lunch time!

Recording tag numbers from the honu on the table.

The team gathered at the end of the day for a team photo.

Turtle Recovery

 10/13/2022

Wednesday

A turtle was reported to have been taken from the ocean and placed in a bathtub in a residence.  It was recovered by DAR personnel and taken to Puako where we met them.  The turtle was robust and healthy looking so we measured and tagged it before trying to set it free.  When we released it, we noticed immediately that it was floating and unable to get down so we retrieved it.  It will be kept at KKO until we can secure an airline reservation to ship it to Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute for rehabilitation.

The honu was air freighted to Maui (MOCMI) yesterday (10/13/22) afternoon for care and rehabilitation.

Laura (HPA) and Chris (DAR) carry the little honu to the water at Puako for release.

Kiholo Tagging Trip - 10/7/2022

 Friday, 10-7-2022

Ms. Jim and Mr. Rice, along with 10 HPA sea turtle research program volunteers traveled to Kiholo Bay and joined the Nature Conservancy Team that cares for the Kiholo fish ponds.  The last time we conducted a trip to this locations was in 2019 with Sea Turtle Biology and Assessment Program team from Honolulu.

We were very anxious to see how the honu were doing after a three year lapse in observation.  We arrived at 0830 in the morning and, after an opening chant and review of the history of Kiholo, we set up the work site and began our capture work.  

We were able to capture, weigh and measure 8 honu by 1200 h after which we broke for lunch.  After a great lunch with a birthday celebration, we resumed work and were able to work up 5 more turtles before it was time to pack up and call it a day.

It was a very successful day with the capture, weighing and measurement  13 honu.  Everyone was engaged the whole time and the help and assistance of the Hui Aloha Kiholo and the TNC personnel made the trip a total success.

Summary:

13 Honu (Chelonia mydas) captured and worked up. (8 were new captures and 5 were recaptures.

The mean straight carapace length was 47.6 cm (std= 8.0)

The median straight carapace length was 45.4 cm

Below are pictures of the days activities and the work done by the HPA student volunteers.

Boat Strike Honu

 Saturday, 9/10/2022

We got a call from a beach-goer that there was a turtle out of the water at Kaloko-Honokohau Historical Park that had a large wound/gash on the top of its carapace.  Laura Jim and Marc Rice drove down to the Park and met with the woman who guided us to the turtle.  It was "basking" under the Naupaka plants to the north of the Canoe Hale.  After conferring with the NOAA veterinarians, it was decided that the turtle needed to be sent to MOC for further evaluation and treatment.  With the help of Kyle (KAHO park ranger) we were able to put the turtle into a box and move it to our vehicle.  

Ke Kai Ola (Marine Mammal Care center) at NELHA was willing to keep the poor turtle over the weekend for us as we couldn't get a flight to Maui until Monday.  The KKO Veterinarian accepted the honu and it was cared for until Monday morning when Marc Rice picked it up, put it in an animal carrier and transported it to the airport for a flight to Maui and the Maui Ocean Center Marine Institute.   

This turtle was first seen at Mauna Lani 10 years ago…

Left Hind Pit Tag: 4413322617

09/05/12: Mauna Lani  SCL: 46.9 cm CCL: 50.0 cm Mass: 13.6 kg

03/13/13L Mauna Lani SCL:47.4  cm CCL: 50.5 cm Mass: 13.6 kg

09/28/16: Kaloko SCL: 51.9 cm CCL: 56.0 cm Mass: 20.4 kg

04/3/18: Kaloko SCL: 54.6 cm CCL: 59.0 cm Mass: 21.3 kg

09/10/22: Kaloko CCL : 62.5 cm, Mass: 27 kg -  STRANDED AT KAHO and picked up by HPA.

   UPDATE:  The MOC Marine Institute received the honu on Monday and gave it treatment but after two days the turtle passed.  The injuries from the boat strike had penetrated the abdominal cavity and when that happens it is often deadly.  We thank the MOCMI for doing their best for the little honu.

Images of stranded honu:

Ke Kai Ola marine mammal care center.

Injured honu basking.

Injury to the Carapace of the honu.

KKO veterinarian coated the wounded area with antiseptic cream.

Fishing Line Recycling Program

 9/4/2022

HPA Continues its support of fishing line recycling on Hawaii Island

Laura Jim, Co-director STRP and Leader of the HPA Marine Studies Program, has been active with the community and HPA students  to put out fishing line recycling collection tubes at several places on the leeward coast.  

According to Ms Jim, "On September 5,2022 our team installed three more fishing line recycling bins in South Kohala with the support of Hawaii County Parks. These bins are now located at Mahukona Pier (north), Mahukona South (near pavilion) and Kapaa and will be serviced by Wendy Noritake, a friend and collaborator of the program."

Below are some pictures of the installation.

Thomas Jim helping to position recycling tube at Kapaa Park.

Marc Rice and Thomas Jim position and attach the recycling tube at Mahukona North.

Attaching the recycling tube at Kapaa Park.

Kapaa park recycling tube.

Laura Jim stands by the Mahukona south recycling tube.

Surprise and appreciation of the presence of the recycling tube.

Marc Rice and Thomas Jim attach the recycling tube at Mahukona south.

Sea Turtle Rescue- Olive Ridley Turtle Caught in Ghost Net is Set Free

  August, 2022

A former HPA student (Class of '03) was fishing offshore in Hawaii and came across a derelict net that had totally entrapped an Olive Ridley turtle.  Through their caring actions they were able to release the poor turtle from the net and it swam away quickly, apparently unharmed.

Thanks to the folks who took the time to save this turtle... It most certainly never would have escaped on its own.  This example shows how devastating ghost nets and other marine debris can be to marine life.  

MAUNA LANI TURTLE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

 July 3 and 4, 2022

Turtle Independence Day Celebration

Laura Jim and Marc Rice along with 5 HPA student volunteers traveled to the Mauna Lani Auberge Resort on Sunday, 7/3/22 to weigh and measure the 6 - 3 year old honu that were to be released on July 4th into the waters of Mauna Lani Bay.  There was a nice group of hotel guests and visitors that joined us while we did the measurements and health assessments.  They had lots of questions about the turtles, HPA and we did our best to involve the many children that were there in the whole process.  

It took about two hours to complete all of the work on the honu after which we conducted a question and answer session for anyone interested in attending.  There were only a half-dozen folks there but it was a fun discussion anyhow.

July 4th, 2022

The work began at about 0700 h on the 4th as we set up our information booth and display.  The focus of the day was honu entanglement and the various threats that still confront them.  Four of Sunday's HPA student volunteers joined us again on Monday to help answer questions at the booth and hand out brochures and other information.  

The festivities surrounding the honu release began around 0900 and, at least for us, culminated when our three environmental heros (Phyllis Kanekuni, Wendy Noritake and Cindy Punihaole) helped to release one the honu named Keala’akau.

The crowd of people witnessing the release was much smaller that past years but was of a size that allowed everyone to view the releases which was really nice.  

Below is a short video of the events on the two days: