The Value of a Turtle - Split from the Honey Girl thread

[mjcoussens]

As far as killing an animal for food...protein is protein (even if it's cute, furry, etc). Not everyone views turtles and dogs for that matter as companion animals. From what I understand, eating Honu is a part of native Hawaiian culture and is part of some of their ceremonies. As such they ought to be afforded the same rights as other "Native Americans" and cut some slack on this. That being said, they ought to have used the whole animal and disposed of the remains in a more respectable manner.

It does disgust me that they held a memorial ceremony for the turtle and have a $1200 reward to find who did it. Aren't there more pressing problems to solve? How about putting that $1200 towards finding out who the driver was in the latest hit and run? Why not use it for rehabilitation of some of our surging homeless population? $1200 could go a long way to supply the local soup kitchens.

Matt

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Why not use it for rehabilitation of some of our surging homeless population? $1200 could go a long way to supply the local soup kitchens.

Matt

Ummm I think we should worry about mistreating turtles and not give them even more reasons to justify killing them. It isn't allowed even if you think it's ok.

Close the soup kitchens down and tough luck is what I say

 

[Cacia]

Many of those homeless people could easily get jobs in Hawaii. Lowest unemployment in the USA and nobody will even do lawn work for less than 20 dollars an hour. Every place I see has a help wanted sign...Most of the homeless I saw were meth users. Non-english speakers without cars can make 20 + cleaning.

 

[mjcoussens]

Close the soup kitchens down and tough luck is what I say

So, by that logic a single turtle is more important than your fellow man....nice.

Matt

 

[Shaka Doug]

The rewards were posted by concerned local citizens who were grieving the loss of Honey Girl. The memorial was by the same concerned people who care. This was not some sort of government funded type of reward. As far as the hit and run situation goes, perhaps a reward (and I should think one greater than $1200) would help find the responsible driver.

This is a sad story. Food or not, there's a right way and this wasn't it. There's an amazing part of this story that has to move you as well. What do you think about the male turtle that came up on shore to visit the memorial?? Turtles rarely beach themselves here on Maui. That was something else going on, I'm not sure what but I find it intrigueing to say the least.

 

[Tigerman]

As far as killing an animal for food...protein is protein (even if it's cute, furry, etc). Not everyone views turtles and dogs for that matter as companion animals. From what I understand, eating Honu is a part of native Hawaiian culture and is part of some of their ceremonies. As such they ought to be afforded the same rights as other "Native Americans" and cut some slack on this. That being said, they ought to have used the whole animal and disposed of the remains in a more respectable manner.

It does disgust me that they held a memorial ceremony for the turtle and have a $1200 reward to find who did it. Aren't there more pressing problems to solve? How about putting that $1200 towards finding out who the driver was in the latest hit and run? Why not use it for rehabilitation of some of our surging homeless population? $1200 could go a long way to supply the local soup kitchens.

Matt

I actually have to agree...

Although killing an animal and leaving half the corpse behind is wrong to begin with and unacceptable as far as endangered species goes, why dont we cry for the people murdered or starving to death on a daily basis?

As far as the "grieving turtle" goes, it wouldnt surprise me much if thats exactly what it did as several species show clearly that animals can indeed grieve the loss of a fellow..

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

Don't worry about the 4000 dudes that died in Iraq...I never see a post about any of them here ... ok got it not scuba related...how about the guys that are military and died/or got injured in Iraq...that lived on the island and dove...? Not a peep....nada. I got it, a turtle is dead...it sucks it was wrong...but lets put it into perspective shall we? Lets offer up a reward for the capture of some guy that killed a turtle, while our fellow Americans are coming home in caskets....my guess is their spouses could use the money for something...

I just read through about 500 pages of the Honolulu Advertiser and the Star Bulletin from the 1941-1945 years for another project. Just from reading the newspapers from those times and comparing the general mood/media reporting to the present has me thinking that we as a country have our priorities all messed up...

this is just another example of that.

 

[Shaka Doug]

Waa waaa waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......I smell a hijack and respectfully ask that the innappropriate comments be removed by a moderator.

Sorry I brang it up to the Hawaii O'hana (FAMILY). This thread was about a well known endangered sea turtle affectionately known as 'Honey Girl' that was maliciously slaughtered on a Hawaii beach. Don't hijack this thread with all the rest of the woes of the world. Blow your bubbles somewhere else if that's your intention! There are other discussion boards devoted to those subjects. Go sign up there if you have something to say about the state of the world.

This sad story was in our papers and on our local TV stations here in Hawaii. This is SCUBABOARD. We are divers. Most divers I know really dig the sea turtles. I dive almost every day and all of my clients say the same thing. "I want to see a turtle'. How do you think they'd feel if I showed them a dead one, with it's flipper and breast plate chopped out, laying dead in a pile of ants on the beach?? They'd probably be upset about it and wonder 'why?'. I would have to say it was a sensleess, malicious act and noone can explain why it happened. That would go over like a fart in church. Yeah, that kind of activity would be real good for tourism too. Do you know that turtle (image) souvenirs (ie. necklaces, stickers, shirts, pendants, etc.) outsell all other marine life souvenirs on Maui (whales, dolphins, fish, coral)?? I wanted to bring the story to peoples attention. This is a diver forum. I think this is appropriate subject matter for discussion. Anyone who wants to say that it's 'disgusting' that someone would hold a memorial doesn't deserve a seat at this table. That's my opinion and if you don't like it that's too bad but you really struck a nerve with me on that.

Why don't you put up $1,200 to find the driver of the hit and run if it bothers you so much? There's a good chance there's a memorial for that person on the sidewalk right now where it happened. That's what they do over here. What are you doing to help that cause except finding fault in someone elses cause? Anyone with that idea should get their head examined, I think it could be full of rocks!

 

[Cacia]

Why don't you put up $1,200 to find the driver of the hit and run if it bothers you so much?

that is a very good point

I feel almost sorry for these turtle killers when the wrong people find them.

Some ethnic/cultural profiler could figure this out. I doubt it was Hawaiians, they don't eat turtle anymore. I think it was a South Pacific Islander, becauase honestly, they don't see that much wrong with this. I think somebody who knows could even look at the part that was cut off and give some insight.

For some reason, it is reminding me of the dog that was eaten on the golf course. We are horrified, and yet some people are like "you mean we can't eat this?"

People don't get up and say "I am feeling evil and I will go stalk Honey Girl and do a Jeffry Domer on her" I think the person was from "another" culture and this was like shooting a fish out of regulation, a mistake based on a different set of beliefs.

Reefcheck does some "education" in pockets of South Pacific Islander communities...somebody needs to go down a similiar road.
There has been a lot of illegal fishing activity up on the North Shore as other non-protected areas are getting fished out.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

There's an amazing part of this story that has to move you as well. What do you think about the male turtle that came up on shore to visit the memorial?? Turtles rarely beach themselves here on Maui. That was something else going on, I'm not sure what but I find it intrigueing to say the least.

The North Shore of Oahu and the Kona Coast have a number of turtle haul out beaches. Researchers theorize that our ocean temps are at the cold extreme of the green sea turtle's range, so they occasionally warm themselves out of the water. No other location that I've heard of has this green sea turtle behavior.

When I worked at Deep Ecology, every week in the summer we got calls from worried visitors about the sick turtles on the beaches (Alii and Turtle Cove). People would tell us how they couldn't push them back into the ocean and needed some help. After we told them to let sleeping turtles lie, many tried to educate us about how only egg laying females ever came ashore. Maui's shallow leeward waters may not be as cold, but hauling out could happen on the inaccessible northern beaches?

Turtle Cove, as this location is known, is adjacent to a rocky point with lots of limu covering the rocks. Along the beach to the West, there are numerous limu covered rocks just off shore. You can snorkel the point and watch up to a dozen turtles feasting, and walking along the beach there are always turtles in the shallow waves.

This spot is a regular stop with the tour busses, there are signs posted with details about the protected status of the turtles with warnings not to touch or feed and George (NOAA turtle guy) makes regular educational visits with small groups.

A few summers ago, lazyturtle and I snorkeled between an injured turtle and a tiger shark just a couple hundred yards off shore from Turtle Cove, so a resident three fin turtle may have us to thank for it's life.

As far as the male turtle that visited the memorial; raised eye brow that did cause! :turtle: