Honu Days | World Turtle Day
This newest photo release is dedicated to World Turtle Day. Hawaii is one of the best places to experience Sea Turtles, known as Honu in Hawaii. The day was created as a yearly observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world, as well as to encourage human action to help them survive and thrive. In Hawaii, In honor of World Turtle Day 2022, Sea Life Park Hawaiʻi partnered with conservation organizations Mālama i nā honu and 808 Cleanups to create a World Turtle Shell-celebration. I celebrated here on the Big Island by capturing a photo of this honu resting on this rocky shoreline. Once considered in real danger of extinction, Hawaiian green sea turtles have seen a dramatic increase in the population under the protection of the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Today it is very common to see these amazing creatures basking on the beach and swimming in the ocean. In Hawaii, the key threats to sea turtles are fishery interactions (i.e. hookings and entanglement), boat strikes, coastal development, pollution, disease tied to humans, human disturbance, and illegal hunting. In photographing this honu, I hope to inspire people to want to care for these animals and help them thrive.
Photo © copyright by Wade Morales.