Blue Planet Journey

  Although my interest in sea turtles was always listed on my resume, I have to admit it leaned more toward a professional hobby. I never applied for a sea turtle grant. I never published a sea turtle paper (although I do have a completed manuscript that I never submitted for publication on human impacts to green turtle behavior in Hawaii). And I did attend 2 meetings of the International Sea Turtle Symposium on Biology and Conservation, once in San Diego, and once in Brisbane, Australia. Posing by one of my posters in Brisbane! Most surprising (to me), I did once try to get myself stranded for a summer on French Frigate Shoals, a speck of sand in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, to tag and measured green sea turtles (that’s another story). I remember the spark that ignited my interest in sea turtles. I was diving with naturalist Bob Kern in Hanauma Bay, Hawaii (a marine reserve), when we spotted a young honu (the Hawaiian name for a green turtle) swimming toward us. We paused, n...

Visitors observing basking green turtles, Oahu, Hawaii. Anthropogenic disturbances to foraging and resting green turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) around O`ahu: potential effects and assessment of harassment  Robert H. Schmidt  Abstract: Hawaiian green turtles are listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The Hawaiian population of green turtles is rather unique in that the nesting site (French Frigate Shoals) is protected, usually uninhabited, and without many terrestrial predators. Juveniles and adults over 35 cm SCL reside in the nearshore habitats surrounding the populated islands, including O`ahu. These animals are the future breeders who have survived the initial high-mortality pelagic stage. I reviewed non-lethal, anthropogenic factors that could compromise their energy intake, predation risk, or risk of being subjected to detrimental human contact. My findings were inconclusive. Green turtle behavior and turtle responses to human activitie...