Hawai’i is one of the few places in the world where amazing, gentle and endangered sea turtles (locally known as “honu”) leave the ocean to rest, digest and warm up (thermoregulate) on its beautiful beaches.
This behavior likely evolved on these once remote islands over hundreds of thousands of years because Hawai’i had no terrestrial turtle predators. It also means that now with nearly 10 million annual visitors a year to Hawai’i, most of us headed to the beach, we humans must be cognizant that we need to share these beaches with sea turtle and enjoy these animals without disturbing them.
An unfortunate incident recently was displayed on social media and received a lot of press by actress known for her roles in multiple Disney productions who receives millions of views from her followers. Actress China Anne McClain did not know that she was doing anything wrong when she posted a video gently touching resting turtles in Hawaii. And if you don’t know it is injurious to these giant, majestic, and mysterious who can blame her for wanting an intimate interaction? Now she knows, and she has since apologized and removed the social media post.
Thank you China!
It also provides a wonderful opportunity to educate the public to view and enjoy these impressive animals without disturbing them. The federal agencies responsible for protecting these animals, NOAA and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service were already under staffed and under-funded before Trump started firing and slashing the budgets of these organizations in the past month.
And organizations like the Hawai’i Wildlife Fund and Conservation Council of Hawai’i who work to protect these animals locally (both of whom likely used to receive funding from the agencies now being gutted by Trump) can’t be everywhere at once.
So what do we need to know?
Never touch them! This disturbance is harassment and can potentially pass diseases to the turtles or to you. Many Hawaiian green turtles are infected with a disease known as fibropapilloma, a herpes virus, is common in Hawaiian green turtles, and while it is not known to be transmitted from turtles to humans (or vice versa), why take the chance?
Stay back 50 feet and view them respectfully — don’t disturb them or do anything to change their normal behavior, including chasing, touching, or trying to feed them. Sea turtles are endangered and have thus are protected under the US Endangered Species Act. Disturbing, harassing or killing a sea turtle Is illegal and can result in a stiff fine, A criminal violation may result in imprisonment and a fine of up to $50,000.
Report Potential Violations or Harassment to this toll free number (800) 853-1964 and email respectwildlife@noaa.gov. Hopefully, there will be someone to respond, even with the devastating Trump cuts to this agency. Share this information with your friends and family and let’s keep sea turtles safe and healthy!
