WAILUA — Beads of perspiration dripped from Don Heacock’s face early Tuesday morning. That came from the Kaua‘i District Aquatic Biologist trying to establish a perimeter around a honu, or green sea turtle, nest that was reported to him that
WAILUA — Beads of perspiration dripped from Don Heacock’s face early Tuesday morning.
That came from the Kaua‘i District Aquatic Biologist trying to establish a perimeter around a honu, or green sea turtle, nest that was reported to him that morning by Mohala Aiu.
“When I got here, the turtle was still on land, but finished laying her eggs and made her way back into the ocean,” Heacock said.
But what bothered him was the fact that less than a foot from the sandy nest were fresh tire tracks from an off-road vehicle that used the Wailua beach fronting the Wailua golf course. Another troubling aspect was the presence of dog tracks, both large and small, criss-crossing the turtle tracks, plus evidence that one dog had actually begun digging out the nest created by the honu.
Honu nesting takes place from about June through September, Heacock said. During this time, the females come ashore at night during the high tide generated by the full moon, which happened Sunday.
The nesting takes the entire night when the female honu digs her nest, deposits about a hundred eggs, and covers them with sand before returning to the ocean.
“She’ll be back,” Heacock said. “She was a pretty big turtle and during the season, they come back to lay more eggs, anywhere up to six times.”
Heacock said each clutch of eggs are laid about 12-14 days apart in the same general area.
Eggs usually hatch in 59-61 days depending on the weather, Heacock said. When the baby honu hatch, they remain in the nest until they sense the cool of the night and then they all dig out and upward at the same time, working together to climb to the surface and make a run to the ocean.
The honu is a threatened species and protected by both state law and the U.S. Endangered Species Act that states it is illegal to kill, capture, take, or harass sea turtles without state or federal permits, states a flier compiled by the Pacific Whale Foundation with the help of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
A dead honu was confirmed at the Hanapepe drainage ditch Sunday night, but Heacock said that turtle, which had been dead for a few days, had evidence of being hit by a boat, but because of the condition of the turtle, Heacock unable to do a necropsy or determine if it was a female trying to come ashore to nest, or if it was a male.
Because of the honu’s endangered status, Heacock was concerned about the impact of people driving on the beaches and having unleashed dogs in the area frequented by nesting honu.
The clutch found Tuesday morning is in the area known for honu nesting and Heacock said the greatest threat to sea turtles nesting in the Wailua area, covering the area from Marine Camp northward to a little past Kamalani, are the trucks that frequent the beach.
“The weight of the truck will compact the sand to a degree that the baby turtles will not be able to dig their way up and out of their sandy nest,” Heacock said.
Heacock said people driving on beaches should avoid driving on or over any coastal beach vegetation, particularly beach morning glory, or pohuehue and naupaka, those two species being where most honu nests occur.
Kaua‘i County Councilwoman Lani Kawahara was one of the volunteers, joining Lloyd and Mary Miyashiro who turned out to help Heacock create a perimeter for the nest.
“I want to learn more about the sea turtles and that is why Don called me,” Kawahara said. “People have been talking about laws and changing laws about driving on the beach so this is part of the reason and I want to learn more.”
Another threat to hatching honu is bright lights and fires, Heacock noting an incident where a security guard called him when he discovered baby honu in the bathrooms at Nukoli‘i.
“When I got there, I noticed the lights in the bathrooms were on,” Heacock said. “Honu that are hatching on beaches at night are attracted to bright lights or fires, and if these are present when they come out of the sand, they will become confused and might actually run directly into a bonfire on the beach and may die.”
Heacock said in the Nukoli‘i incident, he shut off the bathroom lights and placed a flashlight in the water to lead the honu hatchlings into the water.
“We want happy fishers and happy campers,” Heacock said. “But we also want happy and healthy honu!”
To report turtles, or turtle tracks on beaches, call 645-0532. For more information on the honu, visit www.turtles.org/hawgrnd.htm.
