Articles of Interest: |
Green Turtles Released Off Big Island
Forty five 5 month old green turtles were released at 2100 h on Jan. 16 off of the south coast of the Big Island (19 20.05 N 154 51.9 W). All of these little critters were hatched at Sea Life Park (Oahu) and were raised to at the Park and at NOAA's Kewalo marine research facility. They were incubated at varying temperatures as part of a sex determination study by Thane Wibbels (University of Alabama) and George Balazs (NOAA). The goal was to determine the pivotal temperature (the temperature where 1/2 of a clutch will be male and 1/2 will be female) for Hawaiian green turtles. Once the turtles were olde enough to be sexed, they were ready for release. Norwegian Cruise Lines (Hawaii) generously agreed to provide transport for the 45 turtles to an offshore site where they could be released. During the trip out to the release site, Marc Rice (HPA) and George Balazs spent one afternoon on the 12th deck (pool deck) with a couple of the turtles so that the ship board buests could see. They answered questions and explained about green turtles and environmental concerns. Some pictures of the trip may be seen at this site (TRIP PICTURES). Chart of the release location- Big Island Release
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