This past Saturday, August 27, 2011, some friends and I went out to Black Rock here on Maui to go enjoy a nice day at the beach with some exchange students from Japan.
All was well for the entire day! Well, almost the entire day. We were having fun, jumping off the rocks in the ocean and showing the Japanese students how to jump off and everything.
My cousin and I were going for our last jump off the top of Black Rock when i noticed, down to my left at the bottom of the jump, there were many snorkelers gathering around something that was in the water.
I saw there were two green sea turtles and the way the tourists were gathering around them, looked so dangerous... They were literally CORNERING the turtles against the rock face that it almost got stuck on the rocks... I was so angry... I watched the tourists as they continued to get even CLOSER to the turtles!
I tried to yell at the tourists to GET AWAY from them, that they were crowding the turtles and that they were trapping it. It made me even more irritated when one of the younger tourists, a girl probably 15, just yelling at the turtles in the water through her snorkel. I thought she was scared! So we tried to tell her clam down and swim away. But she just kept screaming through her snorkel... I thought it was ridiculous...
The native in me came out and I started yelling even more at the snorkelers... I'll admit I cussed a bit. I was so angry and so scared for the turtles. Trying to tell them that they're endangered. That they shouldn’t touch them. And that touching them is BAD JUJU. Somehow, my other friend managed to get the snorkelers away from the turtles and they were able to swim away quickly.
I went to the NOAA website and found a bit about the proper way to views marine life.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/education/hawaii/
So please, share this with who ever is willing to read? That way, if for some reason you come to Hawaii, and you want to see sea creatures? You will know how to properly observe them without harassing them and angering the natives.
Have you ever wondered what Ocean Acidification, marine debris, poaching, and pollution mean? Well, I am here to help. The first step to improving our world is to understand the issues we face. Only then can we work to prevent and counter them. Here I share my adventures in protecting and improving our oceans in hopes that you will be inspired to help as well. Even if it's just spread the word. This way we can all live up to my motto: “From the mountain to the ocean, everything is connected.”
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