http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1070627/turtle_v_shark_dont_mess_with_this_turtle/
PS - if the attachment doesn't find the clip, then it may have been removed from viewing by others. It's a pretty cool video of a turtle attacking a shark.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Turtle Complaint? Turtle Concern? U choose!
By: Willie K. Herron Sr.
Date: June 30 – July 30, 2009
Problem: My concern is to make known the quantity of turtles in the Ocean on the North Shore of Oahu and to find a way to limit their eating activity. They have eaten most if not all of the Limu which has effectively chased away the reef fish and is creating future problems with the growth of fresh Limu. There are a number of Limu eating fish. Some of them are the Kala, manini, Nenui, Uhu, Wana and many more that depend on the sea weed for its nourishment, laying eggs in the Limu and hiding their young for their protection. Limu is not just a source of food for the turtles, it is a protection and means of survival for many other salt-water ocean species. The laws as they are currently written are protecting the turtles not knowing the damage that they are doing to the reefs. We need the Limu. We need the Fish. We need the Turtles. But there has to be a way that they can co-exist without one eliminating the other. As of now, the problem is is that the Turtles have eliminated the Limu and subsequently, they are also in the process of eliminating the fish. As a result, the cycle will cease.
In an attempt to get a hearing and to start an investigation, I called the various state agencies in this order in order to inform them of the issues.
1. May 2009, DLNR Att: Dave Gulke – Comments: I explained the turtle problems as I see it. His response was that the storm in December 2008 was what probably killed the Limu. I disagreed and asked him to do something about it. He said he would send a crew out to my house and I would show them what problems I was experiencing. Nobody ever came out.
2. May 19, 2009, I went to the Neighborhood Board meeting. Comments: They said and agreed that nobody knew that there was a Turtle problem and agreed to discuss it at a future date. Board member Jake Ng seemed like he would take the lead in following up with the turtle problem. But nothing happened and nobody called me after that.
3. June 23, 2009, I went to the Neighborhood Board meeting. Comments: I again raised my concerns, but after the 3 minutes I was given to explain my issues, they thanked me and went on to the next speaker.
4. June 30, 2009, DLNR Att: Glenn Higashi – Comments: He only works with fresh water issues. No further discussion was with him.
5. June 30, 2009, DLNR Att: Dave Smith – Comments: He only works with land animals. No further discussions with him.
6. June 30, 2009, DLNR Att: Laura Thielan – Comments: She wasn’t in so I talked to her aide Claira phone number 587-0400 at 10:35a on Tuesday June 30. She called Dave Gulke who said I had to write a letter to DLNR. I wrote a letter, see Attached exhibit 1. She received the letter July 2, but I did not get a response nor did she return my pictures.
7. June 30, 2009, I called University of Hawaii 923-9741 which was an answering machine. I left my name and phone number but got no response.
8. July 6, 2009, I called Endangered Species Dept. on 10:40a, the lady I talked to said she would talk to the proper people and get back to me. I left my name and phone number but no further response.
9. July 18, 2009, At the Haleiwa Arts Festival, I talked to Joanne Pettigrew from Malama Honu in person – Comments: She said she did not know what to do about the problem. But said to call DLNR Earl Miyamoto. But after I left, I forgot to get his phone number, but by this time I was too frustrated with DLNR to think I’d get a response anyways, and apparently Joanne did not forward my concerns to anyone.
10. July 28, 2009, I went to the Neighborhood Board Meeting. Comments: I talked with a few people before the meeting to see if anybody else was aware of the problems I knew about. I talked with Todd and Marsha White at this meeting. I knew Todd was very familiar with the ocean so I asked him his opinion. Todd said he knew nothing of it. In fact he said that he had a web site discussing the Turtles, their habitat and pictures of several citings etc., at http://northshoreturtles.blogspot.com I explained my observations to him and his wife. They encouraged me to bring it up and the board meeting which I did. Again, I got no response and after my 3 minutes or so, they thanked me for my concerns and went on to the next speaker.
11. Todd White agreed to take on my cause and said he knew who to contact at the DLNR office.
12. July 29, 2009, Todd called his contact at DLNR who said he was not aware of the problem either but gave a name to contact. Her name was Irene Kelly. I decided to correlate my notes before I contacted her.
13. July 30, 2009, I went to Todd White’s house to create this written record of my attempts to get a hearing.
Discussion: If something doesn’t happen soon, there will be no more Limu, reef fish or turtles. They will have eaten themselves out of house and home. In support of this, every evening, the Turtles are currently going up Anahulu stream in search of food. In talking with Mike Lyons at 722-8320 who said that a group of people took a head count and found that hundreds of Turtles go up stream every night. At first it was thought that they were going up stream for their sleeping protection or for laying eggs. It was later discovered by those that have monitored their habits that they were going up the stream in order to get food and eating the grass on the embankments.
Recommendation: The Turtles need to be allowed to be hunted in seasons just like the Mullet, Lobster, Crabs, Moi, Oama, mountain Pigs, Pheasant and many other animals that are allowed to exist within their limits.
Todd White can be reached at 808-479-5287.
Mahalo
Willie K. Herron
_______________________________________________
Home phone: 808-636-2321 * Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712
Date: June 30 – July 30, 2009
Problem: My concern is to make known the quantity of turtles in the Ocean on the North Shore of Oahu and to find a way to limit their eating activity. They have eaten most if not all of the Limu which has effectively chased away the reef fish and is creating future problems with the growth of fresh Limu. There are a number of Limu eating fish. Some of them are the Kala, manini, Nenui, Uhu, Wana and many more that depend on the sea weed for its nourishment, laying eggs in the Limu and hiding their young for their protection. Limu is not just a source of food for the turtles, it is a protection and means of survival for many other salt-water ocean species. The laws as they are currently written are protecting the turtles not knowing the damage that they are doing to the reefs. We need the Limu. We need the Fish. We need the Turtles. But there has to be a way that they can co-exist without one eliminating the other. As of now, the problem is is that the Turtles have eliminated the Limu and subsequently, they are also in the process of eliminating the fish. As a result, the cycle will cease.
In an attempt to get a hearing and to start an investigation, I called the various state agencies in this order in order to inform them of the issues.
1. May 2009, DLNR Att: Dave Gulke – Comments: I explained the turtle problems as I see it. His response was that the storm in December 2008 was what probably killed the Limu. I disagreed and asked him to do something about it. He said he would send a crew out to my house and I would show them what problems I was experiencing. Nobody ever came out.
2. May 19, 2009, I went to the Neighborhood Board meeting. Comments: They said and agreed that nobody knew that there was a Turtle problem and agreed to discuss it at a future date. Board member Jake Ng seemed like he would take the lead in following up with the turtle problem. But nothing happened and nobody called me after that.
3. June 23, 2009, I went to the Neighborhood Board meeting. Comments: I again raised my concerns, but after the 3 minutes I was given to explain my issues, they thanked me and went on to the next speaker.
4. June 30, 2009, DLNR Att: Glenn Higashi – Comments: He only works with fresh water issues. No further discussion was with him.
5. June 30, 2009, DLNR Att: Dave Smith – Comments: He only works with land animals. No further discussions with him.
6. June 30, 2009, DLNR Att: Laura Thielan – Comments: She wasn’t in so I talked to her aide Claira phone number 587-0400 at 10:35a on Tuesday June 30. She called Dave Gulke who said I had to write a letter to DLNR. I wrote a letter, see Attached exhibit 1. She received the letter July 2, but I did not get a response nor did she return my pictures.
7. June 30, 2009, I called University of Hawaii 923-9741 which was an answering machine. I left my name and phone number but got no response.
8. July 6, 2009, I called Endangered Species Dept. on 10:40a, the lady I talked to said she would talk to the proper people and get back to me. I left my name and phone number but no further response.
9. July 18, 2009, At the Haleiwa Arts Festival, I talked to Joanne Pettigrew from Malama Honu in person – Comments: She said she did not know what to do about the problem. But said to call DLNR Earl Miyamoto. But after I left, I forgot to get his phone number, but by this time I was too frustrated with DLNR to think I’d get a response anyways, and apparently Joanne did not forward my concerns to anyone.
10. July 28, 2009, I went to the Neighborhood Board Meeting. Comments: I talked with a few people before the meeting to see if anybody else was aware of the problems I knew about. I talked with Todd and Marsha White at this meeting. I knew Todd was very familiar with the ocean so I asked him his opinion. Todd said he knew nothing of it. In fact he said that he had a web site discussing the Turtles, their habitat and pictures of several citings etc., at http://northshoreturtles.blogspot.com I explained my observations to him and his wife. They encouraged me to bring it up and the board meeting which I did. Again, I got no response and after my 3 minutes or so, they thanked me for my concerns and went on to the next speaker.
11. Todd White agreed to take on my cause and said he knew who to contact at the DLNR office.
12. July 29, 2009, Todd called his contact at DLNR who said he was not aware of the problem either but gave a name to contact. Her name was Irene Kelly. I decided to correlate my notes before I contacted her.
13. July 30, 2009, I went to Todd White’s house to create this written record of my attempts to get a hearing.
Discussion: If something doesn’t happen soon, there will be no more Limu, reef fish or turtles. They will have eaten themselves out of house and home. In support of this, every evening, the Turtles are currently going up Anahulu stream in search of food. In talking with Mike Lyons at 722-8320 who said that a group of people took a head count and found that hundreds of Turtles go up stream every night. At first it was thought that they were going up stream for their sleeping protection or for laying eggs. It was later discovered by those that have monitored their habits that they were going up the stream in order to get food and eating the grass on the embankments.
Recommendation: The Turtles need to be allowed to be hunted in seasons just like the Mullet, Lobster, Crabs, Moi, Oama, mountain Pigs, Pheasant and many other animals that are allowed to exist within their limits.
Todd White can be reached at 808-479-5287.
Mahalo
Willie K. Herron
_______________________________________________
Home phone: 808-636-2321 * Haleiwa, Hawaii 96712
Interesting Turtle Facts
The sea turtle's body is wonderfully adapted to life in the ocean. Their shells are lighter and more streamlined than those of their terrestrial counterparts, and their front and rear limbs have evolved into flippers making them efficient and graceful swimmers, capable of swimming long distances in a relatively short period of time. Sea turtles have been known to move through the water as fast as 35 mph. When active, sea turtles swim to the surface every few minutes in order to breathe. When sleeping or resting, which usually occurs at night, adult sea turtles can remain underwater for more than 2 hours without breathing. This is due to the fact that turtles are capable of containing higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in their blood than most other air-breathing animals, enabling them to use their oxygen very efficiently. Both muscles and blood are able to store oxygen in large quantities, allowing sea turtles to remain underwater for such long periods of time. Juvenile sea turtles have not developed this ability as well as adults and must sleep afloat at the water's surface.
Unfortunately, not all of the hatchlings reach the ocean. Many are snatched up by hungry crabs and other predators along the way or become lost and die. In addition, some are eaten by sharks and other carnivorous fishes while at sea. Only a few baby turtles from each nest will survive into adulthood. This type of a life history strategy exhibited by the green sea turtle can perhaps be more easily understood by comparing it to other patterns that we see in nature.
There were once several million green sea turtles worldwide. Today, fewer than 200,000 nesting females are thought to remain. In Hawaii, scientists currently estimate that only 100 to 350 females nest each year, predominantly at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwest Hawaiian chain.
If you have more turtle facts, please post your comment so we can continue to build the site. The information gathered for this article was taken from EarthTrust.org.
Unfortunately, not all of the hatchlings reach the ocean. Many are snatched up by hungry crabs and other predators along the way or become lost and die. In addition, some are eaten by sharks and other carnivorous fishes while at sea. Only a few baby turtles from each nest will survive into adulthood. This type of a life history strategy exhibited by the green sea turtle can perhaps be more easily understood by comparing it to other patterns that we see in nature.
There were once several million green sea turtles worldwide. Today, fewer than 200,000 nesting females are thought to remain. In Hawaii, scientists currently estimate that only 100 to 350 females nest each year, predominantly at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwest Hawaiian chain.
If you have more turtle facts, please post your comment so we can continue to build the site. The information gathered for this article was taken from EarthTrust.org.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The death of Alii Beach Honu
Got a call this am about the siting of a dead turtle. Here's what we found
She appears to have died from natural causes. She was maybe 120lbs or so and maybe 10-15 years old (all field guesses). However, those four or more cut lines across her back may be a propeller blade, but someone else will have to make that call to be certain.
After we called the turtle hot line at 808-288-0023 (which is a pager) we left our number and waited for NOAA to call back.
Janea Howell was assigned to our turtle. She came out and we put her on a canvas. Uh . . . the turtle not Janea.
Then we began hauling her up the beach to Janea's waiting SUV.
Mind you that's an SUV. That girl (the turtle, not Janea) was stink. And Janea had to drive all the way to town with this lady in the back of her car. I hope she made it all the way to town. Wow, what a job. I hope that she had her car detailed today.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Turtle in Distress
Here Riley & Kelly Peterson, and mom all from San Diego find a turtle with an Ulua hook in its neck. Looks like the hook has been in the turtles neck for many years. So they came back to the condos to find help and see who could remove the hook. I was notified. After confirming the injury and taking pictures, I made a call to NOAA and waited for a response. They didn't call right away so I took caution to remove the hook as carefully as I could.
This is a close up of the hook still in the turles neck
Together with Peter from Boston, who was also staying at our condos, held the turtle from moving, I pulled the hook out. Because the hook was so rusted, I figured that the hook had been in his neck for a number of years, it seemed that the Turtle bodys natural protection and healing process would have wrapped the hook and I was right. The hook came out just like pulling a cork out of a bottle of vintage wine. "PoP"! and all was good.
Then I massaged his neck. After that, he seemed to tilt his head to look at me, with a sparkle in his eyes. He then turned to the ocean and decided to go swimming. I think he juss wanted to go show his friends that he wasn't wearing his "Bling" any more.
There he goes, happy and satisfied with the surgury. You can see that it's a He turtle because of the size of his tail. Wahine's have short tales.
He even really wasn't too much in a hurry to get back in the ocean. I'm sure he'll feel a lot better tomorrow.
Here's a close up of what the hook looked like. I kept the hook to send into NOAA for their inspection and documentation.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Condo Turtle into log snuggling 3-2-9
I wish I could get closer to you, but I can't. Please Log . . . tell me U love me! We could marry and make little Turtlelogs
The Haleiwa Surf Condominiums are right there. I'll protect you, I won't let them use U as fire wood!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Feb 2009 Honu
My Doctor said I needed to spend more time out of the water!
He said I should spend more time at the Beach
My tail is getting kinda heavy.
I'm suppose to stay at the Haleiwa Surf condo's. Has anybody seen it?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
1-12-09
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Look at me, not the camera
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I heard they got affordable rent over here! I wonder if they allow pets? I think I'd like to bring my human!
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