Five Green Sea Turtles Released by Maui Ocean Center

PC: Maui Ocean Center

Five Hawaiian green sea turtles were released into Maui’s coastal waters recently, where they will continue their life in their natural habitat. These honu (turtles) were hatched at Sea Life Park Hawaiʻi and raised at Maui Ocean Center as ambassadors of their species, educating guests about Hawaiʻi’s sea turtles and the challenges they face in the wild.

Guests aboard the Aliʻi Nui catamaran witnessed Kuʻuipo, Kilakila, Hohonu, Makaʻala and ʻAuliʻi as they were carried down the boat’s steps into the welcoming waters of Maui. For Maui Ocean Center’s curators, who have fed, cleaned, and cared for the honu, it was a bittersweet moment as they bid farewell to the turtles.

Since establishing its partnership with Sea Life Park Hawaii in 1998, Maui Ocean Center has raised and released 83 Hawaiian green sea turtles under the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle Educational Loan Program.

Maui Ocean Center continues to care for six, one year old Hawaiian green sea turtles and anticipates more hatchlings in the future which will eventually be exhibited at Maui Ocean Center’s Turtle Lagoon.

The turtles were released with Passive Integrated Transponder Tags as well as “MOC” and a number marked on their shell for identification purposes (1, 2, 4, 5 and 6). Maui Ocean Center encourages the public to keep an eye out for these turtles.

If a sighting is made, the public is asked to report the date, time, ID number, and location to Maui Ocean Center at (808) 270-7075, [email protected], or social media, for tracking purposes.