Green Sea Turtle, Honu, (Chelonia mydas) hatchling
Honu is the Hawaiian name for the Hawaiian population of Green Sea Turtle, a threatened species.
One is likely to find them gliding around the ocean reefs or sleeping under ledges of lava rock and coral. Sometimes they sunbathe on coral heads or beaches.(Um, not this little guy pictured, though.)
Green turtles undertake incredible journeys to their place of birth, where they mate and nest. Almost all of the green sea turtles one sees around the main Hawaiian Islands, this birthplace is 500 to 800 miles away in the remote French Frigate Shoals, located in the NW'ern Hawaiian Island Chain.
Working together, tiny hatchlings dig upward to the surface of the sand, an effort that takes 2-3 days. They then immediately crawl to sea. A very large number of them become meals for crab, fish, and other cool stuff to see when snorkeling.
The surviving hatchlings subsist on plankton, jellyfish, and fish eggs floating near the surface of the open ocean.
Until Honu are 4-6 yrs old, its unknown exactly where the young turtles go.
It takes 25-40 years for Hawai'i's green sea turtles to reach sexual maturity in the wild.
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Every day I come across sea turtle hatchlings. On the runway, in vegetation, on the water catchment concrete, about anywhere it seems. Some days I might find 4 or 5, another day 1 or 2. The hatchlings are turned around from where to go. They need water, they desicate (or dryout pretty crispy) quickly, particularly on warm and sunny days. It's not uncommon to come across many dead, dried out, and picked-at hatchling around the island.
It's also not uncommon to find a little guy either high-tailing it to God knows where, or just barely moving when picked up.
This guy in the pictures was somewhere in between that, and was found in the early evening. Late in the day to still have life in him.
Hatchling have a VERY tough chance to survive to adulthood out in the open water where they belong. But there's a chance...
This guy, along with a number of others (personally, maybe around 10 since I got here, I'm not sure) I have found around this 37 acre island, I put in the ocean. The odds are incredibly stacked against them. A story unto itself.
Like this guy the other evening, atleast they have a chance...
I hope all is well. Mayhaps, next post I'll show you the species of bird that I specifically monitor for reproductive success. It's called a Black Noddy.
Good early evening from French Frigate Shoals atoll.
mwyork
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing such a miracle with us. What a beautiful tiny creature.
JLY
Your focus on having a chance is insightful and, with even a little thought, becomes profound. You have learned and shared an important lesson from these little turtles. Great images from your camera and your "pen."
BD
Matt, your writing makes me ache. I yearn to be in touch with the natural world. San Diego is kind of pretty, but honest-to-goodness, there is just too much concrete covering up the world. I'm sick of it. The ocean is at my side, but I don't know what I'm seeing. You, however, seem to know. I love reading your posts, even though they make me ache a "good ache." Thanks. I think about your and your island nearly every day. Stay aware, and thanks for sharing, your cousin Kim.
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