Hawaii Green Sea Turtle
Green turtles are found everywhere in the world, mostly in tropical waters. The "Honu", Hawaiian name for the green turtle, is distinct from other green sea turtles. In 1978 it was put on the endangered list because people were harvesting both turtles and eggs to the point the population of these creatures was in peril. Since then, the Hawaii green sea turtles have made sort of a come back.
The Honu nest, for the most part, in the French Frigate Shoals of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This is a protected area and is largely free of any predators to the eggs or the babies. The females deposit eggs at night and up to seven clutches are deposited over the course of a week or so. The usual amount, however, is 2 or 3 clutches in that time frame. For each clutch, they lay around 100 eggs. These gentle turtles only breed every 2 or 3 years, and sometimes not that often.
Juvenile green sea turtles have been known to eat cuttlefish, sponges, seaweed, and jellyfish. But their main diet is vegetarian. Adult Hawaiian green sea turtles are known to frequent near shore waters in order to find food as well as to come ashore to bask on the beach. All of my photographs here I took at Laniakea Beach on Oahu's North Shore. Sometimes there are several turtles at one time resting and basking on that beautiful beach, also called "Turtle Beach". This beach is about an hour drive from Waikiki and is 1.5 miles from the charming town of Haleiwa, as you head towards famous Waimea Bay. Green turtles come to Laniakea Beach to feed on seaweed and algae.
The above two photographs I took of Laniakea Beach. That sign on the beach in the photo directly above has information on it about the Honu. There are volunteers at this beach that are helpful and informative when it comes to the turtles. They monitor the turtles closely and know each one by name. They also place red tape around the basking turtles to keep people from getting too close to them.
In my photo above, you can see how close the newly arrived turtles are to people before the volunteers rope off the area to keep people at a safe distance.
Below is a short video showing the Honu swimming and eating.
"Ain't She Pretty"
24" x 24" acrylic on gallery wrap canvas
Available
The artist in me took liberties with color here; I made the Hawaiian green sea turtle greener than it actually appears in real life. That was my intention.
When you make a trip to Oahu, be sure to bring your camera and take pictures of the Honu at Laniakea Beach. Summertime is the best time to find them basking there, as the waters are not as turbulent and the waves are not as high as at other times of the year.
