Malama na Honu!

Last week I went to the annual Joint Spouses Conference at the Nehelani on Schofield Barracks.  It was an awesome daylong event, filled with workshops and presentations aimed at military spouses.  There was live entertainment, a guest speaker, and wonderful Hawaiian food.  I had a great time, and learned a lot of new things and even made a friend.

One of the workshops I attended was called "Show Turtles Aloha".  I thought it might be iteresting to learn about them, and I've always thought they were beautiful animals.  They are frequently seen swimming off the shores in Hawaii, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to learn more about them.

The presentation actually turned out to be from an organization called "Malama na Honu", Hawaiian for "protector or guardian of the turtle".    What the organization does is volunteer on a specific beach on the North Shore, Laniakea Beach, where the honu have begun coming ashore to sun themselves.  In the beginning, about 8-9 years ago, people would come to see the honu and cause them stress by touching them, picking them up, sitting on them, hand-feeding them, and more.  There was no one around to help people understand that this activity was detrimental to the health of the honu, which is a protected species.

Volunteers man this particular beach from sun-up to sun-down, watching for the turtles to haul out of the ocean for sunning.  When they do, the volunteers set up a red rope and signs around the turtle, preventing people from coming too close.  They are also there to answer questions and provide information to the public about the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle and why it's so important to leave them alone.


I was thrilled with the idea of volunteering with this organization, something I could do with the boys, too.  So today we went to Laniakea Beach and went through the training session.  Luckily for us, even though it was rainy and overcast, there was one honu up on the beach!  He was a big boy, and his name is Wooley Bully.

SO BEAUTIFUL!  THE RED ROPE IN THE BACKGROUND IS WHAT THE VOLUNTEERS LAY DOWN AROUND SUNNING HONU

LISTENING TO THE FOUNDER TELL ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

JOJO AND PLAYING ON THE BEACH

MIKEY

PART OF LANIAKEA COVE

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE THE HONU!  BUT IT STARTED RAINING

WOOLEY BULLY!

THERE WASN'T ANY SUN, BUT HE WAS ENJOYING A NAP ANYWAY!

I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY WITH THEM!

So the boys and I will start volunteering for Malama na Honu and setting up ropes around turtles that haul out for sunning.  I'm so excited, it will be such a great experience for us!  I'm hoping to shadow tomorrow (we have to shadow twice before being on our own), wish me luck and lots of turtles!