KHON (Honolulu, Hawaii) 19 December 13 Always Investigating: Community calls for end to turtle poaching (Gina Mangieri)
Hawaii's green sea turtles are an endangered species, but some poachers are breaking state and federal law. It's an often gruesome crime that threatens decades of efforts to protect them from extinction.
Authorities know poaching happens, but proving it and catching the culprits isn't easy.
Green sea turtles basking on Hawaii beaches or cruising in the ocean -- the rule is look but don't touch. Still, many can't resist the urge to reach out with what they think is care. Others cross the line to obvious mistreatment, while at the worst, poachers hunt an endangered species.
"Everybody thinks that they're being eaten," says concerned Makaha resident Inez Larson, who has taken on the cause of alerting her community to suspected turtle violations. “Witnesses have seen it on other beaches, people cleaning the turtles out on the beach, gutting them out, putting the meat in the cooler and then walking away with the shell and the meat."
She and others have tried to form watch groups.
"My room is right next to the trail,” says Kainalu Medeiros, who lives near a beach lane in the Makaha area. “Late at night I can hear the cars pull up. Twice I caught guys carrying a turtle that way, they never did come over here. I ran after one of them but he got away."
"You come here in the morning every other day there are tracks either from a cooler being dragged or the turtle being pushed,” Larson says. “They take them from where they bask there and they just drag them up the rocks."
"Lately it feels like there are less turtles,” says neighbor Angela Arbuckle. “Some nights we could see 4, 5 6 beach, and then there's nights where there's one or none, some nights with none my instinct would say that there's danger here."
“There is concern among the neighbors,” Arbuckle adds. “I wake up often with an unsettled commotion that wakes me up and it can last for 20 minutes, and so I’m not comfortable leaving my house to check it out.”
Federal officials say a number of other factors -- from the environment to turtle behavior -- can affect headcounts, but they acknowledge poaching happens. They point out four cases on Oahu and Maui last year, three in which poached turtle remains were found, one that they say a tourist helped stop in Haleiwa where suspects were dragging a turtle up on the beach using snares and a noose.
And just last week on Maui, a search warrant over drugs also netted a semi-fresh turtle shell. The Department of Land and Natural Resources said Maui police gave that to state conservation enforcement, and Maui police arrested a women for possessing a prohibited species.
"We respond to every call that has an inclination that somebody's doing something wrong when it comes to harvesting green sea turtles here in Hawaii, which is still against the law,” said William Aila, director of the DLNR.
Suspecting something's happening is one thing…proving and catching someone quite another.
"Poachers aren't going to advertise that they're taking an animal,” said Patrick Opay, Hawaii’s Endangered Species Branch chief at the federal NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. “They're not going to do it in broad daylight, it's a very secretive thing if it is occurring."
"It's wrong and we're not going to tolerate it,” Larson of Makaha says. “We in Makaha want to put an end to the turtle deaths by Christmas."
KHON2 asked the DLNR about response to the concerns the community is bringing forward.
"We have responded by putting people out there at night to take a look at these reports. We would ask that when people do report, that they get as much information as possible such as description, license plate number of the car so we don't chase unsubstantiated leads down."
He says authorities have followed up on leads such as suspected turtle innards found on near a beach, which turned out to be pig intestines likely washed down a stream. But he says they remain vigilant nonetheless.
“We only have a limited amount of enforcement officers,” Aila said. “We would prefer to go after cases that are fresh, that have a reasonable opportunity for a successful conviction.”
“Instead of going out in the middle of the night and trying to confront poachers on your own, get the data you can in a safe manner like recording the dates and the times and things like that, and getting ahold of us and our enforcement people,” said Opay of NOAA.
KHON2 asked DLNR, in the cases where it might be happening, what are they finding are the reasons someone would take or harm a turtle?
“We have allegations of people who in some cases are authorized to eat green sea turtles back where they come from, but they need to understand that in Hawaii we are not at the point where green sea turtles are legal to eat,” Aila said. “We are trying through our connections in (those communities) to reinforce this fact.”
He says recent petitions to the feds to take turtles off the endangered list may also be causing confusion that it's somehow OK to harvest again. Both the state and federal government warn nothing has changed.
"You have a few people who just don't follow the law, and it's frustrating because it's counter to what we're trying to do, we're trying to recover them,” Opay said. “Whether it's fish or human threats out there, it's a gauntlet for a turtle to even survive from a hatchling, so those animals that get to a size that are the ones that come up to start nesting, they're worth their weight in gold. Somebody taking like a nesting female is taking a super valuable animal to the population and the health of that population and the future.”
Meanwhile back in Makaha, the neighborhood remains on watch posting signs, organizing shifts, even wanting cameras.
"They don't understand they're an aumakua, we're watching these beautiful creatures, they're our buddies, they're our friends in the water, and they see them as food on their diet," Larson said. “It's just a matter of raising awareness and putting an end to the turtle deaths."
Enforcement Hotlines:
State DLNR 808-643-3564
Federal NOAA Sea Turtle Hotline
Weekdays, 7AM-4PM (808) 983-5730
Weekends, holidays, after hours: (808) 288-5685 or 288-0023
2012 information on suspected poachings, per NOAA:
Human take cases include all strandings that result from direct human take including turtles that were speared, knifed, or shot with a firearm. State and Federal enforcement agencies are notified for all human take cases. Four cases of human take were recorded in 2012, all involving green turtles.
On August 28, 2012 a turtle was found dead at Maalaea Boat Harbor, Maui, with clean cuts around the edges of the carapace, missing its plastron.
On August 31, 2012 an adult female turtle was found at Hauula, Oahu, still alive but in a partially butchered (knifed) condition with internal organs exposed and substantial blood loss. An emergency euthanasia was humanely performed.
On September 9, 2012 a turtle carcass was found in the bushes and its plastron was found in the water near an electrical cord fashioned into a noose, at Makena State Park (Black Beach), Maui.
On September 28, 2012 a tourist scared away poachers at Haleiwa Alii Beach Park, Oahu, dragging a turtle up the beach using snares and a noose. The Honolulu Police Department removed the snares and noose, and the turtle returned to the water prior to MTRP’s arrival.
Maui recent case, per DLNR:
“According to our Maui Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) office, last week MPD executed a search warrant for drugs at a Maui residence, and in their search found a semi-fresh turtle shell. They notified DOCARE and turned over the shell to DOCARE. A female was arrested by DOCARE and charged with possession of prohibited species. She was later released pending investigation of this charge. She is also part of a drug case the MPD is investigating.”
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