After being bred in captivity, Sea Life Park will release five of the endangered animals into the wild this Saturday.

Like kids ready to be sent off to college, the five juvenile Honu are ready to experience life on their own.

Raised from little hatchlings no more than a few inches long, the Honu are now a robust 150 pounds.

And ready to enjoy life in the open ocean.

“By releasing them at a larger size this increasing the likelihood that these turtles will surviving until fully matured,” said curator Jeff Pawloski.

The release is part of an ongoing program at Sea Life Park, aimed at not only preserving the endangered green sea turtles, but educating the humans who might encounter them.

A program that happened purely by accident.

“About 30 years ago we started out with a bunch of turtles at the front of the park and people were allowed to come up and take a look at the turtles,” said Pawloski. “Suddenly one day we saw little babies pop up on the beach and that’s how the story began.”

Although the majority of the turtles are set free, some are held behind to be kept on exhibit.

That’s where the educational part of the program kicks in. Especially for Hawaii’s keiki.

“They get an opportunity to look at the turtles very close which is something they couldn’t do in the wild,” Pawloski said.  “They get to look at them and touch them and see what a real turtles feels like and learn a lot about turtles.”

Pawloski says Sea Life Park has released thousands of turtles into the wild over the last 30 years.

All of them with embedded microchips, or satellite trackers that allow scientists to monitor their movements, behaviors and life span.

The release of the turtles will be celebrated Saturday with daylong activities at the park culminating with the release at 4 p.m.

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The action by the Interior Department would designate about 43 square miles as critical habitat for all the species rather than considering each species’ habitat separately, which has been the practice for three decades. Officials said considering the species all at once should save time and resources and would help the whole ecosystem.

The same approach is planned to help protect rare species on Oahu, the Big Island and Maui over the next several years, and it could be considered for the Arctic, big river systems of the Southwest and areas of the mountain West, according to department officials.

“For more than three decades, we’ve been struggling with one species at a time,” said Dale Hall, Fish and Wildlife Service director, in a conference call with news media. “This gives us a chance to look at groups of species and at the same time be economical in the way we designate critical habitat.”

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, in Honolulu for an island health conference, said the new “holistic approach” will benefit not only the listed species but also the rest of the ecosystem.

“By addressing the common threats that occur across these ecosystems, we can more effectively focus our conservation efforts on restoring the functions of these shared habitats,” Kempthorne said.

The species include 45 plants, two birds and an insect, the Hawaiian picture-wing fly.

The Endangered Species Coalition hailed the action as “an end to the drought,” noting that the Interior Department has added only one species to the endangered list in the past two years, the polar bear.

It pointed out that no recommendation has been made for 23 other species the administration had told Congress it would be proposing for this fiscal year.

The American Bird Conservancy said the two birds proposed for listing need all the help they can get. Both birds are species of honeycreepers.

The two Kauai birds are the akikiki and the akekee, both honeycreepers and prized finds for birdwatchers. The akekee is yellow and green with a short blue bill and long notched tail. The akikiki has dark feathers above and light feathers below and a pink bill.

George Fenwick, president of the conservancy, said recent surveys show the two species are on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 1,400 akikiki in 2005 in a shrinking Kauai habitat. The akekee population was estimated at 3,500 last year, down from about 8,000 birds in 2000.

Scientists blame nonnative plants, feral pigs and goats, disease introduced by mosquitoes and storms for the decline. Development also has hurt Kauai’s ecosystem, though much of the land proposed for critical habitat is mountainous and roadless.

A final decision on adding the species to the list will be made after a yearlong study.

Hawaii has more endangered species than any other state with 329, and Kauai has more than any other Hawaiian island with the greatest diversity of plants and animals.

“It is appropriate that we begin this new approach to listing species and designating critical habitat in Kauai,” said Patrick Leonard, field supervisor for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office.

All but 1,646 acres of the 27,674 acres proposed for the 48 species overlap existing critical habitat for other species. Most of the land is federally owned, but nearly 6,000 acres is held by 12 private owners.

Officials said all the private land is either already designated critical habitat for rare species or is covered by other programs that would protect species and landowners would face no new restrictions under the proposal.

Known habitat for one of the species on the list, the Pritchardia hardyi plant, was left out of the proposal. Officials said it was not considered prudent to include it because the rare palm is often illegally gathered and designating its habitat would tell collectors where to find it.

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Honey Girl was the largest female in a group of 20 turtles that frequented the beach, and became a favorite of visitors and locals alike.
Honey Girl’s death was the result of foul play, possibly by poachers who prize turtles for their meat. However, evidence shows Honey Girl died quickly—the closest thing to a silver lining for this dark cloud.

A memorial with her photograph was set up on the beach. Honey Girl’s story has received local and national attention, with visitors from near and far coming to Lanikea Beach to mourn and leave flowers and lei at the site. 

In recent days, a different kind of visitor came to pay its final respects: Kuhina, a turtle from Honey Girl’s pack, emerged from the North Shore surf and settled in front of Honey Girl’s memorial as if saying “goodbye,” to the awe of many onlookers.
The investigation of Honey Girl’s death is ongoing.

Another was found dead on a North Shore beach just days after the Honey Girl incident.

Initial reports suggested that that turtle was victim of a shark attack, but it was quickly determined that it had been struck by a boat propeller, which left distinct slashes across its belly. That incident is being deemed an accident.

Green sea turtles are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act as well as Hawaii state law. As with other endangered Hawaii animals like monk seals, people must keep their distance or face potential charges.

It goes without saying that it is illegal to kill these animals for any reason, punishable by huge fines and jail time. Even swimming near them or following them could be viewed as harassment.

Your best bet is to park yourself on the beach and enjoy them from a distance. 
What do you make of this senseless tragedy?

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Hawaiians also observed the day by giving five green sea turtles their first taste of freedom. The endangered juvenile turtles were released into the Pacific Ocean from a beach at a resort as hundreds of residents and vacationers lined up to cheer.

The green sea turtles were bred in captivity and were deemed big and healthy enough to take part in the 19th annual Turtle Independence Day Celebration.

A marine turtle researcher says he hopes the exercise helps people realize the world needs wild areas.

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Brown tree snakes are one of those potential threats.

Once established somewhere, brown tree snakes can drastically change the ecosystem and economy.
In Guam, a western Pacific Ocean island, these snakes are responsible for the extinction of many of the island’s native forest birds and some of the native lizards.

If brown tree snakes are allowed to inhabit Molokai, the few native birds we have left will be in great danger.
Being that most of our native animals are only found here in Hawaii, it will be a great loss that cannot be fixed.

Remember once something is extinct, it is lost forever. Can you imagine never being able to see an apapane?
Already we have lost so many native birds, which in turn resulted in the extinction of some native plants. Without the current native birds we will definitely lose more native plants that depend on those birds for pollination.

Brown tree snakes would have a negative impact on the economies of the Hawaiian Islands.

These snakes have created frequent electrical power outages in Guam. These power outages total about 200 per year and are costing Guam more than $4.5 million each year.

A study conducted by the University of Hawaii shows that the State of Hawaii would pay $28 million to $40 million to address similar power outage problems if the brown tree snake were to establish itself on the islands.

Brown tree snakes would also negatively impact the tourism industry — something that Hawaii greatly depends on.

Having a brown tree snake problem will cause tourists to choose different destinations or shorten their trips. This would affect the amount of revenue flowing into the industry.

Hawaii will have to pay not only in power outage costs and the loss of tourism, but also to manage the brown tree snake problem. It would cost nearly $4 million to control the snakes.

The time it takes to transport people and supplies between islands will greatly increase. If one island becomes infested by brown tree snakes, people leaving that island would need to check their luggage and supplies extensively to prevent spreading the infestation to other islands.

Getting someone to inspect all cargo leaving and coming to Molokai would help prevent the introduction of brown tree snakes and other invasive pests.

Currently we do not have the money to employ this type of personnel for the island, but having someone here would greatly benefit Molokai’s future.

It would cut down on all the costs of any introduced invasive pests and eliminate the environmental impacts the invasive pests would have on the island.

Brown tree snakes are a health hazard as well.

In Guam they have been known to crawl into infant cribs. The venom which is released into the infant can cause respiratory distress, neurological dysfunction and swelling in the area which is bitten. Do you want your child to be at risk of being bitten by one of these snakes?

Help the Molokai-Maui Invasive Species Committee by reporting any snake sightings by calling 553-5236 ext. 204.

If you would like to learn more about brown tree snakes you can visit the HEAR Web site at www.hear.org or visit the airport kiosk during the month of June and July.

With your help we can prevent these snakes from becoming established here on Molokai. Prevention is the key for the success in keeping Molokai safe and the Molokai community is the key for prevention.

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