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.
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.
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| HPA and NPS team members. |
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