Aloha Thursday Evening Patrons,
On Thursday evening December 13th, the UH Sea Grant Hanauma Bay Education Program resumes its public outreach series at the City and County of Honolulu’s Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. Although the nature preserve will be closed to the public during the day for repaving of the parking lot, I have been assured it will be ready to conduct our Thursday evening program.
Thursday December 13,
Voyage of the Lonely Turtle
A film produced for PBS by Nature
A solitary loggerhead turtle in the middle of a vast ocean may not sound like an adventure film, but stick with her. Along her 9,000-mile voyage to nest, our loggerhead tour guide in Voyage of the Lonely Turtle encounters hammerhead sharks, deep ocean tempests, and man-made death traps in the form of fishing nets and hooks. Her body of well-suited armor and specialized adaptations for deep-ocean dwelling will help the sea turtle evade many of the ocean’s menaces. But this is just one set of challenges to overcome. Here is another: she must find her way across the Pacific, from Mexico to a small stretch of beach in Japan, a precise location that she has been to just once before, as a two-inch hatchling, decades ago.
Researchers have learned a great deal about how this curious creature could make such a phenomenal voyage. Some of the most valuable information was gained from a single voyage. Scientist Wallace J. Nichols released the captive loggerhead turtle, Adelita, into the Pacific a decade ago. Over the course of a year, Adelita did what no sea turtle had ever done before, she took researchers and turtle enthusiasts along on her journey, to her beach, to nest. Since then, researchers have shed much light on how sea turtles like loggerheads navigate the astounding trip. One of the more fascinating aspects of this navigation is the turtle’s use of magnetic mapping to chart its course.
As always, these events begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday evening in the theatre at the Hanauma Bay Education Center. Events are free and open to the public, with no charge for parking after 5:30 p.m. We hope to see you on Thursday evening! These programs are supported and funded by the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.
For more information on UH Sea Grant Hanauma Bay Education Program events and activities, navigate to the “Calendar of Events” located at www.hanaumabayeducation.org.
