Volunteers keep an eye on sea turtles at Laniakea

Regardless of what the state eventually decides to do about the volume of visitors stopping to see the turtles basking on the shores of Laniakea Beach on Oahu’s North Shore, a group of volunteers continues to watch over the reptiles.

Malama na Honu, translated as "care for the turtles," is a nonprofit group created in 2007 to protect Hawaiian green sea turtles, a threatened species protected by federal and state laws. It evolved out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s "Show Turtles Aloha" campaign in 2005 and started with just a handful of volunteers.

Besides making sure visitors know not to touch, feed or ride the turtles, based on NOAA guidelines, volunteers are out there to make sure the honu have space to bask in peace.

More than 75 active volunteers, known as Honu Guardians, come from throughout the island and are out at Laniakea seven days a week.

"We’re always looking for more," said Joanne Pettigrew, educational outreach and volunteer coordinator. Volunteers complete an initial training session and commit to two three-hour shifts a month.

NOAA recommends keeping a respectful distance of six feet from the turtles and ensuring they have a clear path to the ocean.

While Hawaiian green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) are making a comeback in numbers in recent years, they remain protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Without the volunteers, there’s no doubt that many tourists, not knowing any better, would be sitting on the turtles’ shells or sidling up next to them for photographs.

Pettigrew says volunteers serve as turtle educators rather than law enforcement, and that awareness is key. They rope off a perimeter around basking honu and put up signs. Volunteers also help track basking behavior for marine turtle research.

"I’ve had a thing for turtles since I was a kid," said volunteer Erin Rodriguez, who drives out from Central Oahu and sees herself as sort of a docent.

Malama na Honu has been tracking more than 20 turtles, which are identified by their markings and scars, and by transponder tags implanted by NOAA.

There’s Brutus, a 35- to 40-year-old adult male who lost half of a back flipper to a tiger shark. Over the years, Brutus has been hooked, entangled and nipped by predators, but continues to bask almost daily at Laniakea.

Hiwahiwa, a 35-year-old female, has a fissure on her shell, likely from a watercraft collision in 2001. She’s completed the 1,000-mile round-trip journey from Laniakea to the French Frigate Shoals and back several times.

Kaheka, a juvenile, was entangled and injured by a fishing line and hook in April 2008, then rescued and treated by a vet.

It is one of the younger members of the honu group at Laniakea.

For a $25 donation, you may symbolically adopt one of these honu, with funds going toward education and outreach initiatives.

Efforts to communicate effectively with Hawaii’s visitors have expanded. There are now brochures in Japa­nese, Chinese, Korean and Spanish, as well as English. The Malama na Honu website is available in dozens of languages.

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ON THE NET:
» malamanahonu.org

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Nina Wu writes about environmental issues. Reach her at nwu@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter @ecotraveler.