My First Turtle Watch

Today was my first scheduled shift at Laniakea Beach to guard the turtles (honu). Because of the recent storm, the surf was very rough and the turtles hadn't been on the beach for three days. They probably stayed out to sea to avoid being smashed against the rocks. So it was a great day for people watching and photos.

Half the fun of being on this beach is watching the people take photos of their friends and families. Tour buses often stop here because of the turtles and when they do there's a large group of people descending on the beach. Often the people are Japanese, and that doesn't really have anything to do with anything, except that they're so darned cute. They get so excited about seeing the turtles and then they really get "into" their group shots.

If there are turtles on the sand, they pose with the turtles in the background, making peace signs or shakah signs with their hands, and they just have a blast. It makes me laugh... Here's a group posing and in the next photo, two girls jumping in the air. I bet the "photographer" of that shot got a great image.

Another Honu Guardian and her daughter checking out the surf.

And finally the sunset. Take note of where the sun is setting compared to the little mountain. By the time I leave in April, the sun will be setting about as far to the right of the point as it is to the left right now. Pretty dramatic.

Posted at 8:30 pm on Saturday, Jan 16, 2009