Hualalai Honu Health Assessment

 

Hualalai, Thursday, April 4, 2024

Laura Jim, Marc Rice and 8 HPA STRP students traveled to Hualalai Four Seasons Resort on  thursday (4/4/24) to capture, tag and conduct a health assessment of resident honu along the shoreline from Kumukea Beach to Kukio Beach.  We were joined by Tyler and Maika'i from the Hawaii State Division of Aquatic Resources and George Balazs for the work day.  We arrived at 0815 and  set up our work site.  The surf was pretty rough along Kumukea Beach and we had to move our capture work to Kukio Beach which is more protected.  We were able to capture two honu at Kumukea and 9 at Kukio Beach.  Six of the honu were new captures and 5 were recaptures from previous trips.  One of the recaptures (H76) had moved to Kukio from Mauna Lani where it had been captured and tagged in October of 2023 (a distance of ~25 miles).  

All 11 of the honu appeared healthy and were weighed, measured, tagged and released by the research team.  

Below are the growth rate calcuations for the 5 recaptures.  Note that H 76 was the honu that moved from Mauna Lani Bay to Kukio Bay some time between October 2023 and April 2024.

The table below shows the growth rates of the 5 recaptured turtles.

Kanu Koa Project Student Volunteer Day

On Tuesday, February 3rd, Laura Jim escorted three HPA students - Murphy Makely, Charlotte Kassis and Pemma Norbu- to Kona Village and Kahuwai Bay. The group was gifted the opportunity to volunteer with The Nature Conservancy's Kanu Koa Project. The project aims to accelerate the growth of reefs by planting corals in Kahuwai Bay that were deemed corals off opportunity, coral colonies that had been broken off from the recent swells. Part of this work includes research on the optimum method of "planting" the coral - either using a nursery system or planting directly on the reef itself. Students learned about corals of opportunity, how to fragment coral, and how to glue fragments. We worked exclusively with lobe coral, Porites lobata. 

Waikoloa Hilton Field Work

 1/30/24

Laura Jim, Marc Rice and 7 HPA STRP students traveled to the Waikoloa Hilton on Tuesday (1/30/24) to capture, tag and conduct a health assessment on resident honu that spend time in the "lagoon" at the Hilton Hotel.  We arrived at the hotel at 0730 and began transporting our equipment to the lagoon area.  We were set up and ready to work by 0845 and Ms. Jim and the capture team began the in-water work. 

Two middle school students joined us to learn about the program and participate in the field work.  They are hoping to be able to complete the training necessary to become part of the HPA Sea Turtle Research Program.

The area between the two arrow is the lagoon area where turtles reside.  This day, a number of them were feeding back in the area behind the bridge on the right of the picture.  The waterfall, where honu often gather to feed was not running and there were very few honu in that area.

Over the course of the day, Ms. Jim and here team were able to capture 15 honu and we measured, weighed, tagged and did a health assessment on all of them ... we were finished by ~1445.  There were lots of hotel guest and interested onlookers and the HPA team did a great job of informing people about what we were doing and why it is so important.  

Of the 15 honu captured, 6 were recaptures and 9 were new captures.  The honu ranged in size from 40 cm (18 lbs) to 66 cm (84 lbs).  

SIX of the 15 turtles were recaptures and we had data from the previous capture so we could calculate a growth rate (cm/yr).

Below are photos taken during the day.

Setting up our working area.. the tide was a little high but dropping

Getting all the equipment out and organized... the tide has dropped already.

The capture team bringing in the first honu of the day.

Turtle H173 was a recapture from our last trip to the Hilton on 2/7/23.  It had grown about 1 cm in 1 year.

The THE team releases a honu while hotel guests watch.

Keeping control of a honu and preparing to put in in the carrier for release.

Painting a number on a honu as part of the Honu Count program operated by NOAA.

Recording data and looking at the Caulerpa algae that honu in the area like to feed on.

The team releases a honu after it has been worked up.

The HPA capture team heads out for another honu.

Charlott brings in the smallest honu of the day.

Catherine and Fischer take a honu out for release.

H 244 is ready for release.

Carefully putting our largest turtle into a carrier for release.

Releasing honu number HA 72.

The HPA STRP team after a hard days work!

HPA STRP is back in action

1/15/2024

VANUATU STRP 2024

The HPA Sea Turtle Research Program Satellite Tagging Project continued this year as we made our fifth trip to Moso Island Vanuatu to capture and tag post-nesting hawksbill turtles. We were able capture and place satellite tags on three post-nesting hawksbill turtles during the three nights we were on the nesting beaches.

Students Zane and Luke, Laura Jim and Marc Rice along with our Vanuatu collaborator Francis Hickey and several local guides worked hard during the night to make this happen.  Please see blog.  to look at the blog of activies we kept during the trip.

11/7/2023

HONU HEALTH ASSESSMENT AT 22 PBR (11/7/2023)

EXCITING NEWS: HATCHLING PIT TAGGED 10 YEARS AGO WAS RECOVERED

Six HPA STRP students, Laura Jim and  Marc Rice traveled                              to 22 Puako Beach Road, Puako, Hawaii to capture, tag and                        perform a health assessment on honu in the shallow reef area.                        This is a site we have visited yearly for many years and is                              one of our main areas for conducting these types of                         assessments. We were joined by our long time friend and                         mentor, George Balazs and Brenda Jensen (Dean, Professor                             at Hawaii Pacific University) and Wendy Noritake (friend and                         marine conservationist from Kohala).  

The weather was good (calm in the morning) little wind and                             clear skies.  We got right to work after setting up the work                                 site and we were able to capture and work up 9 honu by                                 1230 hours. The weather worsened a bit by then and the                         afternoon capture work proved less productive as onshore                             wind created some surf and made capture work more difficult.                          By 1500 hours we had captured and measured 12 honu.                              Seven of the 12 were recaptures and 5 were new captures.                              We tagged and numbered each turtle before they were                             released near where they were captured. All of the honu                         appeared healthy, with good body condition and no                                     serious injuries or health issues.

The days captures:  7 recaptures and 5 new captures:                                  Mean carapace length = 55 cm (22 inches) and mean                                 weight was 24 kg (52.8 lbs)

To report a numbered turtle sighting

see https://turtle.hpa.edu/22pbr/ to view some                                             pictures from the day's work.

10/29/2023

STRP Participates in International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Ms. Jim and 6 students from the STRP program joined in support of International Coastal Cleanup Day at Spencer State Park on Sunday.  They assisted in the cleanup, weighing and classifying the trash and running games for the public. See HPA/ICC web page for pictures of the event.

10/24/2023

Honu Health Assessment at Mauna Lani Bay (Keawanui)

10 HPA STRP students, Laura Jim and Marc Rice  joined Pi'i, Nahoku and Ethan at the Mauna Lani Auberge Resort to capture, tag and health assess honu in the waters fronting the resort properties.  We were able to capture 11 honu and all of them appeared to be in good health.  We had lots of visitors and the students, along with Pi'i's team fielded many questions and had wonderful positive interactions with them.  

Of the 11 honu worked up during the day, 9 were recaptures and 2 were new captures.  All of the turtles were numbered as part of the NOAA Honu Count project.  Open Honu Count Reporting form.

WEB PAGE HERE

10/14/2023

Fishing Line Recycling Program

During our latest visit to 7 of our fishing line recycling tubes we were pleased to see that several of them were filled.  They are an important service to the community and the environment.  So far, the recycling program, led by Laura Jim, has collected over 4 miles of line… and counting.  While there has been some trash in the recycling tubes, people have been pretty good about restricting their deposits to fishing line.  While were were down at Kawaihae, there were a dozen fishermen going after halalu! 

10/6/2023

Ms. Jim presented a paper entitled Stranding Response Programs: An Opportunity for Education, Community Building and Engagement.

at the 3rd Annual Sea Turtle Workshop at Hawaii Pacific University on 10/6/2023.  See recording of her presentation here.

 9/26/2023

We have completed our STRP training classes and several of the students have completed their exam and have become qualified as STRP research assistants.  They can now actively participate in our various sea turtle research and monitoring efforts.

On Tuesday (9/26/23) we conducted our first health assessment of the year at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park.  We normally make this trip once a year to assess the health and growth rates of honu that live in the waters fronting the park.  The group picture is shown below and features HPA STRP researchers and National Park Service personnel that we such an important part of the day's work and results.

HPA and NPS team members.

 

Happenings in March - May

 5/30/2023

We have been pretty busy over the last 2.5 months.  Listed below are some of the activities that we have been involved in.

6/16/2023 - We will be traveling to Japan with two students as part of the Stretch Project.  While there Laura Jim, Marc Rice, HPA students and researchers from Stanford, Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium and Kochi Univeristy, will attach 25 Wildlife Computers Spot 6/387 ARGOS tracking tags.  Please see STRETCH for more information on the project.

5/13/2023 - HPA STRP's Laura Jim led a group of STRP team member volunteers to host a sea turtle information booth during the annual Charity Walk 2023 at Anaehoomalu.  For further information and images please see Charity Walk 2023

5/2/2023 - The HPA STRP team made a trip to the Four Seasons Resort, Hualalai, Hawaii and captured, measured, tagged and health assessed juvenile and sub-adult honu.  Please see Hualalai tagging for further infomration

4/17/2023 - The HPA STRP team made a trip to 92 PBR, Puako, Hawaii and captured, measured, tagged and health assessed juvenile and sub-adult honu.  Please see 92 PBR for more information.

3/31/2023 - The HPA STRP team made a trip to Punalu'u State Park and assisted the UH Hilo Marine Options Program to capture, weigh and health assess honu.  Please see Punalu'u Tagging Trip for more information.

Kukio Juvenile Honu Stranded

 3/26/2023

The HPA Stranding response team was notified by the Kukio beach club personnel that they had found a dead Honu on the beach early in the morning.  This particular honu apparently crawled out late Saturday afternoon and was seemingly basking.  Apparently, it was in bad shape because when then came in on Sunday morning, the little honu was dead.  Marc Rice (HPA STRP) responded and picked up the honu and transported it back to the HPA freezer for storage until it can be necropsied by NOAA's Marine Turtle Biology and Assessment Program.

Below are some images of the poor little honu (curved carapace length= 43 cm).  There are no apparent injuries but the underside (plastron) is quite sunken and soft which is an indication of lack of nutrition.  It was given emaciation code of 2 which is quite severe.

This is where the little honu was found on Kukio beach.

The plastron is sunken and soft.

It is easier to see here that the plastron is severely sunken where it attaches to the marginal scutes, a sure sign of malnutrition.

Hilton Waikoloa Hotel

 2/7/2023

The HPA STRP  team went to the Hilton Waikoloa Lagoon to capture and tag turtles that live in there.  There are a number of turtles that are resident in the lagoon and gather around the waterfall area and feed on algae that comes out of the boat channels.  Pictures taken by George Balazs shows how the propellers from the boats breaks the Caulerpa loose so that it can make its way to the water-fall and "into the turtles' mouths".

During the day, Laura Jim, Sihkea Jim and participating students were able to capture 14 green turtles (honu) during the day.  We weighed, measured, moto-tooled and process these fourteen honu and quickly released them back into the lagoon.  Within an hour or two of release (probably even sooner) we observed some of our numbered turtles over at the water-fall feeding on the Caulerpa coming from the boat channel.

The boats that transport the hotel guests to the outer reaches of the hotel's property.  The propellers of the boats knock the algae (Caulerpa sp.) growing in the channel.

The lose algae washed down the channel to the waterfall where it drops into the lagoon.  There are always honu waiting there to gobble up the free meal of green algae (Caulerpa sp.),

Some images of our work today:

There were 10 STRP trained student participating in the work today.  They all were very professional and competent in processing the honu and getting them back into their habitat in short fashion.

 

The HPA student STRP team (one student, Emma, had to leave early).

The Hilton Waikoloa Lagoon where honu gather to feed on the algae coming over the waterfall in the background.

Our work area on the beach of the lagoon. 

Preparing sampling equipment and explaining procedures and jobs.

Maintaining control of a small honu on the examination table.

Bringing a honu to shore for measuring.

Carrying a honu up to the work table.

 

Releasing a honu after it has been measured and tagged.

HA165 feeding shortly after it was released by the research team.  The capture and examination really doesn't affect them for very long- they shortly go right back to what they were doing before capture.

The HPA capture team, led by Ms Jim (mid-right side).

The Hilton honu are very well fed and quite robust looking.

Another honu released.

Nearing the end of the work day.  Talking story and sharing information with visitors.