Although we are predominantly land animals, humans have always felt a deep connection to water. Nowhere is this more evident than on the Hawaiian Islands. It’s no wonder that we are so enamored by the animal that has represented the connection between land and sea for centuries: the sea turtle.

Green sea turtles (Chelon mydas), honu as they are called in Hawaii, have been revered for centuries by Hawaiian and other Pacific cultures. Meat, tools and ornamentation from the honu were important to early Hawaiians. Turtles also have played a large role in art, legends and hula. From the story of the creation of first turtle by the Hawaiian fish demigod Aiai, to folklore of turtles helping to guide the Polynesian voyagers to discover the islands, honu have played an important role in the culture of old Hawaii.

Probably the most well known of the honu stories is about Kauila, the magical “Mother of All Turtles,” that lived in Punaluu Bay on the Big Island. Kaulia was able to transform herself into a girl and watch over the children playing on the shore. When her mother dug a hole in the sand to lay her eggs, a cool fresh spring flowed to quench the children’s thirst.

The connection continues today. Ask any concierge or activities coordinator in Hawaii and they will tell you that one of the most frequently asked questions is, “where can I see turtles?” Honu rank right up there with humpback whales as a favorite ocean animal to see while visiting Hawaii . Unlike the whales, which spend summers vacationing in Alaska , turtles are year-round residents on our favorite islands. We can enjoy them while snorkeling or scuba diving at most sites on the islands and they are often spotted on the surface by boat or from shore. In some special places, they even haul themselves out of the water to bask in the Hawaiian sun.

Honu’ea, or the Hawksbill turtle (Eremochelys imbricata) is another type of sea turtle native to Hawaii but they are extremely rare and unlikely to be seen. Leatherback turtles, the largest turtles in the world, have been seen in the open waters around the islands but are not known to reproduce here and are not considered residents. So, any sea turtle we see in Hawaii is most likely a Hawaiian green sea turtle.

Joy of watching

Watching the turtles in their natural habitat can be the highlight of the trip for many island visitors. The best way to do this is to get into the water with them by snorkeling or scuba diving. While joining them in their unique environment, we can enjoy the surprising gracefulness they exhibit while in the water. Turtle watching while underwater is a special privilege that many people will never experience. But with that privilege we also have a special responsibility to not disturb or harm them.

The green sea turtles in Hawaii have, for the most part, become very used to human presence. This is especially true at some of the better known dive and snorkel sites where they have grown accustomed to seeing many people everyday. Their easygoing attitude around humans should not be mistaken as an invitation to get closer, touch or ride them. They are wild animals and should be treated as such. Just being in the water around them can be exciting and it’s sometimes hard to restrain ourselves. Sometimes looking into their sweet faces, our imagination tells us that they would like to be petted. Most of the time, they would prefer just to be left alone.

During the day, we may see turtles involved in one or more of their daily routines, or they may just be swimming by on what seems to be an important mission – likely traveling to their next daily routine. If they are just passing by, it’s best to just observe until they are out of view keeping in mind that what we think of as “following,” they will see as “chasing.” On occasion, some turtles will make the decision to swim up to us out of an apparent curiosity. This is their choice and we can consider ourselves lucky to have been chosen, but it is still illegal to touch them. They will probably just make eye contact for a few seconds and travel on.

One of their daily routines we may witness is feeding. This is often the case during high tides, when they can reach the plants growing in very shallow water that they can’t quite get to when the tide is low. This is an important window of opportunity for them as they have only a few hours to ingest as much of the sun enriched vegetation as possible before it is again inaccessible. This is their job and they work hard at it. We can see just how serious they are as the waves lift them up, and then crash them onto rocks, while they just continue trying to graze as much as possible. As they are battered against the rocks, reef and sand, we begin to realize the importance of those cumbersome shells they lug around. When they have a good mouthful, they will settle back into more peaceful water to chew, swallow, and grab a breath of air, and then it is back into the surf.  As snorkelers or divers, we watch this routine from a distance to keep from interrupting their meal as well as keeping ourselves safe. After all, we don’t have a protective shell.

We may also find them in their cleaning routine. Most green sea turtles have specific locations where they hang out every day to be cleaned - their own private spa on the reef.   Sometimes they simply lie on the reef allowing surgeonfish and others to clean the algae accumulating on their shells and to pick small parasites and dead loose scales from their skin. Other times they will feel the need to use their perfect buoyancy control to float several feet from the ocean floor, allowing their symbiotic partners to reach their undersides as well. They will hang out at these “stations” to be cleaned for many hours everyday, only interrupting this ritual with an occasional trip to the surface for a breath of air. Since they probably don’t understand the true benefits of the cleaning, their reasoning must be simply that it feels great.

The most likely routine we may find them in is just resting.  They do this a lot so they must need it. Usually, they like resting in areas that offer some protection. This is often in a cave or under a ledge. Sometimes they comically seem to think that just sticking their head in a hole is all the protection they need.

Due to their extremely efficient utilization of oxygen, resting adult turtles can stay underwater for as long as 2 hours without surfacing for a breath. Youngsters cannot stay nearly as long. While keeping a respectable distance, we can watch as they slowly swim to the surface, pop their head into the atmosphere and gulp a breath. If they are not feeling threatened, they will usually wait 10 to 20 seconds just below the surface while their cells re-oxygenate and grab another breath. They may repeat this 3nor 4 times before heading back down to their resting place below.

Whatever the turtles we see are doing, we need to keep a respectable distance and keep our movement to a minimum. When we move into their personal space, we change their habits and environments in way we don’t always understand. While they sometimes seem content to have us very close, we may be keeping cleaning fish from doing their job. A turtle that is trying to rest as long as necessary before surfacing for air, may get a little nervous and use oxygen a little faster, or maybe just feel safer by getting to the surface sooner, thus disrupting their regular cycle. A resting turtle is usually completely motionless. When we get within their uncomfortable zone, we will see a slight movement in their head or flipper. This is a sure sign that we are either making them nervous or at least annoying them.  If we remain at that distance, or move in even closer, they will leave early for air. In this situation we must back off. It is also especially important that we avoid swimming directly above them. The best bet to be sure we are not causing stress is to stay at least 20 feet away. It is also polite not to swim directly above them. Blocking their straight line to their air supply understandably makes them nervous.

For those of us that don’t scuba dive or snorkel, there are other ways to see these magnificent creatures in the wild. Turtles that have surfaced for air are easy to spot from a vantage point just higher than the water surface. Viewing turtles at the surface is best done with polarizing sunglasses. Polarizing cuts the glare of the sun and allows us to see into the water and view their beautiful shells. In some places along the shore, especially during high tides, we can watch them feeding on the algae and sea grasses very close in.

This could be from a boat deck or a pier or rock outcroppings along the coast. Please keep in mind that while viewing turtles from the rocks can be a lot of fun, it can also be extremely dangerous and certain precautions are necessary.  Remember that this is the most dangerous part of the ocean. More people lose their lives climbing out on shoreline rocks than swimming in the ocean itself. If you have any doubt about going out on the rocks, don’t do it! If you are not ocean savvy, resist the temptation and go out on a boat.

In some very special places, especially on the Big Island and Oahu , turtles regularly haul themselves out of the water to sleep in the sun. While they may seem dead at first, these turtles are getting a well deserved rest without the worry of tiger sharks or surfacing for air. Again, we must let them be and watch from a distance. If they move in the slightest way, we have already disturbed them.

Life of the honu

In Hawaii , green turtles travel hundreds of miles from the main islands to the French Frigate Shoals to mate and lay eggs. Individual adult turtles do this about once every 2-5 years. While visiting this extremely isolated mid point of the Hawaiian island chain, females will use the relatively cool cover of night to crawl up on a sandy beach – likely the beach where she was born – to dig out a nest and deposit as many as 120 ping-pong ball size eggs. She will repeat this every couple of weeks for as many as 5 times. Incredibly, the temperature of the incubating eggs will determine the sex of the young turtles that are developing inside. A couple of months later the baby turtles hatch and instinctually crawl back to the sea. At this stage in their life, they are only about 2 inches in diameter, weigh merely an ounce and are very vulnerable to birds and sand crabs. Once they finally make it to the water, fish join the birds in making meals of these helpless young hatchlings.

The babies that survive this gauntlet will spend time at sea, living off of plankton and small sea jellies that are readily available near the surface. Later, as juveniles that have grown to about 12” in diameter, they begin showing up along coastlines of the various islands, becoming strictly vegetarians eating the algae and sea grasses that grow in the sunlit shallow water. Here, they will grow to about 200 pounds in the first 20 years before reaching sexual maturity. At this point the males can be identified by their extremely long, thick tails and a mating claw on their front flippers. Now they begin to start their own long treks back to the French Frigate Shoals where they were born, to mate, lay eggs, and start the cycle over again.

It is between these long journeys that we have the good fortune of enjoying their presence along the coasts of the main Hawaiian Islands . This is where they spend most of the 80 or more years of their life feeding on algae and sea grasses. This slow leisure life allows them to grow to as much as 500 pounds with shells over 4 feet in diameter. Due to previous over hunting, there are few turtles this age now and we really don’t know how old or large they can get. Hopefully this will change in the future.

Endangered to threatened

These days, we can find green sea turtles on nearly every mile of shoreline on the main islands but these friendly reptiles haven’t always been so plentiful. In 1978, having been hunted to near extinction, green sea turtles were listed on the endangered species act and hunting and harassing them became illegal. This has done wonders for their world population which has increased to about 200,000 nesting females. While not even close to the millions that had been swimming in the ocean since pre-dinosaur times, it is a high enough number to have their status changed from “endangered” (defined as those "in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range”) to “threatened” (those likely to become endangered "within the foreseeable future.")  This rise in population numbers and status is great news but their future isn’t quite secured yet. Other dangers are still threatening their existence.

In the Hawaiian Islands , adult honu have only two known predators: man and sharks. They have dealt with sharks and survived as a species for thousands of years but modern man is posing far more serious threats to their existence. Habitat degradation that is affecting all of the ecosystems of the reefs from pollutants and overdevelopment of coastal areas of course affects the habitat of the turtles as well.

Marine debris, or litter, is a major problem with turtles as they are often found with plastics they have ingested that block their digestive systems and eventually kill them. It should be understood that nearly all plastic bags, Styrofoam, cigarette butts and most other litter improperly discarded most anywhere on an island, eventually finds its way to the ocean.

Discarded fishing line, hooks, longlines, and nets tangle and drown many turtles every year. Turtles are also killed by the thousands worldwide as “by-catch” in major commercial fishing operations. There are even poachers that still illegally hunt sea turtles for meat and shells or rob their nests of eggs.

As if all of these threats weren’t enough, green turtles have a particular problem of their own called fibropapilloma. This disease is even more hideous that it sounds. Thought to be a virus related to herpes, this malady affects green sea turtle populations in Florida as well as Hawaii . It manifests itself as fibrous tumors around the animal’s eyes, neck and flippers. These tumors eventually grow big enough to physically affect the turtle’s ability to see or swim well which eventually will cause its demise, usually from starvation. Scientists are trying to learn more about this serious problem that is threatening a huge part of the total population. It is not understood what has caused this outbreak.

Respect

Showing all marine life respect while enjoying it is not only ecologically beneficial, it also allows us to watch them living their lives as they have for millions of years. Most local people and regular visitors love their friendly honu and will not hesitate to alert the proper authorities when someone is violating the laws. To report suspected law enforcement violations towards sea turtles, please call NMFS Law Enforcement at 1-800-853-1964 or the local DOCARE office at: (808) 873-3990. It is especially important to inform authorities about any commercial boat operators that fail to explain, and adhere to, the no-harassment laws of the state.

Under state law, the penalty for anyone convicted of harassing an endangered Hawaiian sea turtle, including disturbing its nest, on first conviction, is a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $2,000, or by imprisonment of not more than one year, or both. For a second or subsequent offense within 5 years of a previous conviction, a fine of not less than $500 or by imprisonment of not more than one year, or both.