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.
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| This is where the little honu was found on Kukio beach. |
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| The plastron is sunken and soft. |
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| It is easier to see here that the plastron is severely sunken where it attaches to the marginal scutes, a sure sign of malnutrition. |
