Articles of Interest
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The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel's (MLBH) Honu pond is the nursery for green sea turtle that were hatched in captivity. Since 1989, Mauna Lani Resort has received juvenile honu (green turtle) from Oahu’s Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery, and has raised them in the saltwater ponds of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. The honu are cared for until they grow to a size and weight that are deemed appropriate for release into the wild. This release occurs every July 4th, Turtle Independence Day, at the ocean’s edge fronting Mauna Lani Bay. Recently, 8 new 5 month old green turtles arrived at MLBH from Sea Life Park. The 8 Honu (4 males and 4 females) will be raised at MLBH until they are released during turtle independence day activities in a couple of years. As Part of the hotel's educational outreach program, a joint study with the Hawaii Preparatory Academy has been instituted to follow the growth rates of these turtles over the next year to determine if growth rates are gender dependent. Under the supervision of Pi'i Laeha and Kendal Kang (MLBH), Marc Rice (HPA) and George Balazs (NOAA), students will assist in the weighing, measuring and health assessment of these 8 turtles on a biweekly basis (see quicktime video). The data gathered will be used by the students to produce a research paper. We will keep current growth graphs updated as the measurements become available over the coming months. Follow this link to see some pictures of the little turtles... MLBH turtles
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