More Video Footage of Reef Damage off Keawekapu

Maui, We Have A Problem. A Big, Big Problem

In an attempt to create an artificial reef off of South Maui, an estimated +100,000 lbs of concrete blocks were dropped into the water.   This is the first video (turned in to Hawaii Ecotube) of the results...

All the Colors of the Rainbow in Kahana Stream

"I wish I knew what it was. I doesn't look like any natural phenomenon I am familiar with, but then I don't know all the natural wonders Maui can offer, ( I saw my first pink snails the other day!) .pH was in normal range, there was some slight specific conductance reading indicating some dissolved solids, It does not smell like volatile organics ..."

Need more Hawksbill Help!

Aloha Turtlers,


I’m very glad to announce that all of our Kealia and Kawililipoa (that was relocated from Kealia) nests have been very successful this season, yielding heaps of hawksbill hatchlings! This is extremely good news for the hawksbill species, and those of us who enjoy seeing and helping hatchlings make it to the sea safely. We only have one nest left before the season is pau, so this is your last chance to join in the nest watch fun until next year.

We’ll be starting to camp at this sixth and last nest at Kealia this Wed, Nov 3rd through Nov 12th (at the latest, depending on emergences). If you’re interested in day or night watches, please respond with your availabilities to Angie. We’ll send more information then.

Mahalo!

Wonder What Happened?

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/525085.html

Seen While Diving Today...

Does This Seem Like Responsible Interaction To You???

Very Sad News For Latest Hawksbill Hatchlings - Please Help!

I met Glynnis at the site this morning, and we picked up more dead hatchlings (and there are still a few left that I couldn't scrape off the road between cars racing by). There were probably nearly 100 killed. This is an unknown nest to us, as tracks were never reported, and looking at the calendar it seems to have been laid before the first Kealia nest was found. It's on a narrower section of the beach, so high tides could've erased the tracks.

We put up a black cloth fence behind the nest site, held down with rocks so no more can make it through onto the road again. I'm heading back there now with my wonderful volunteers to make sure this doesn't happen again. We'll set up vigil tomorrow during the day as well, so if anyone wants to turtle sit the nest please give me a call. We're also awaiting the first nest (that we did know about) to hatch, as tonight is night #65. It's night #56 for the second nest so we'll be keeping a close eye on that one too. Busy, busy!
Please, please, please, call Skippy, Glynnis, and myself right away(!!!) when something like this is found!
Mahalo,
~Cheryl

Original Note...
We had an unfortunate emergence this morning, probably somewhere after 6 AM at Kealia. Unfortunate because many of the hatchlings turned toward the road and didn't make it. XXXXXX was walking the beach, but unfortunately had her dogs, without a leash, and couldn't do much to help. Great that she was there and called me and I was able to run right up there. There was a Highway Cleanup crew working and I solicited them over to help. We carefully checked the area and found 16 hatchlings in the brush and weeds that we moved to the open sand to run to the water. XXXXX arrived and we searched the area for another hour only finding one more hatchling.

Which Would You Prefer to See?

This is an amazing site with insights of international issues, as well as for Maui and Hawaii Nui.  Please Click the link below to view more.

http://www.hamerhawaii.com/Main%20Web%20Pages/research/manta_ray_awareness_program.htm

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly of the 2009 Turtle Nesting Season

Aloha Turtle Enthusiasts,

After ~2 weeks of night patrolling for our 2009 nesting hawksbills, Kulu and Kalohe, we never discovered signs of any more of their nests at Kealia. We were hoping to locate them laying more nests so we could do some satellite tracking research, but considering how late it is in the season it’s not a surprise that they were done nesting after their last nests. Another possibility is that they went to different beaches to nest and we simply didn’t hear about it.

There was an extremely unfortunate incident that happened near the Maui Lu Resort along South Kihei Rd a couple of weeks ago. Unknown to us, a hawksbill nest was laid atop the dunes and when the hatchlings emerged they became disoriented by the streetlights, signage lights, and car lights and crawled onto the road instead of finding the ocean. Only ~30 hatchlings were saved with a total of 88 dead and dying hatchlings found on the road. We located the nest and excavated it but there were only two live ones left.

At this point we can’t say for sure if Kulu, Kalohe, or a different turtle altogether laid this Maui Lu nest. The incubation time period coincides best with a nest that Kulu could’ve laid before we found her first one of the season at Kealia. It’s not uncommon for turtles to nest in different locations, and these nesting sites are less than two miles away. As we were excavating the nest, we found out that a turtle (most likely this nester) had been found two months ago and folks helped her get back across the road to the ocean. The bright coastal lighting almost certainly disoriented her as well, and she probably barely missed getting run over herself! We will be including this stretch of coastline in our patrols next year for sure, and although it’s not practical to build a turtle fence around the whole island, something needs to be done…
There was a similar lighting-related disorientation incident with a green sea turtle nest in Ka‘anapali a week afterwards. Again, we didn’t know about the nest until hatchlings were found on the boardwalk (attracted inland towards the resort lighting). Luckily there wasn’t a road there, and passersby helped numerous hatchlings to the ocean before we found the nest. As both green and hawksbill nesting increases in brand new locations all around Maui, this serious problem will become more common. For more information on this topic and what you can do to facilitate “turtle safe lighting”, please visit our website.
The only positive piece of information that came out of the Maui Lu incident was that at least the hawksbill hatchlings developed successfully there. Hopefully this will be the case for the three Kealia nests, and the Kealia nest we relocated to Kawililipoa, but if not that will still provide us with some clues for solving this unproductive nest mystery.
Just like we’ve been doing since the beginning of this project in 1996, we’ll be monitoring the four nests we have left this season very closely. Starting on October 5th, we’ll be camping at the first Kealia nest. Due to the close dates of the subsequent nests we may be camping almost every night this month (depending on incubation success/durations). Once hatchlings become known, we’ll be scheduling daytime watches as well since we’ve had hatchlings emerge during all hours of the day and night. We need your help! Here’s your chance to join in the fun of helping us make sure every hatchling makes it to the ocean safely. Please contact us with your October availabilities, day or night, and we’ll send you specific details.

Mahalo to all who have helped so far this season!!!

mauihawksbills@gmail.com

Hawksbill Recovery Project

Another Awesome Public Service Announcement From Pa'ia Youth and Cultural Center!