Help save stranded,
sick sea turtles

Here's a dilemma facing more and more Hawaii beach-goers: You're walking down your favorite beach and ahead is a dark, roundish shape. As you get closer, you see it's a sea turtle lying on the sand. What do you do?

Thanks to state and federal wildlife workers, private veterinarians, whale sanctuary volunteers and students from the University of Hawaii's Marine Option Program, there are good answers to this and other turtle stranding questions:

Is a beached turtle sick?

In the wildlife refuge of the northwest Hawaiian Islands, healthy sea turtles often bask on beaches to rest. However, in the main islands (with the exception of a few places on the Big Island), a beached sea turtle is almost always sick or injured. Due to the rise in tumor disease among our turtles over the last decade, most beached turtles here are quite sick. In fact, 65 percent of stranded turtles are found dead.

According to data collected on stranded turtles here since 1982, annual strandings have increased from 10 to 20 cases in the early '80s to 200 to 300 cases in the late '90s. During the last decade, 47 to 69 percent of the stranded turtles had tumors.

Of the 2,377 recorded strandings, 75 percent are on Oahu, which makes up only 15 percent of Hawaii's coastline.

How close should I go?

If you find a stranded turtle, turtle rescuers will want to know several things: 1. Is the turtle dead or alive? 2. How big is it? (Do they need one or two people to lift it?) 3. Where is it exactly? Walk close enough to a beached turtle to get this information. Also, look for obvious injuries such as fish line on a flipper or a laceration and report that, too.

Whom should I call?

Report any sea turtle lying on a beach and let the experts decide what to do. On Oahu, on weekdays, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., call the National Marine Fisheries Service at 983-5730. In the phone book, this is listed under Federal Government Services, National Marine Fisheries Service, Marine Turtle Strandings.

All other times call Hawaii's Enforcement Hotline, 587-0077. This number is under State Offices, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Enforcement Hotline.

If you see someone killing or harassing a turtle, call the above Enforcement Hotline, 587-0077, or the Fisheries Service Office of Enforcement, 808-541-2727 or 800-853-1964.

On neighbor islands, call the island's Department of Land and Natural Resources office and ask for the number. For a toll-free call, dial "O" and ask for Enterprise 5469.

Phone numbers are easy to lose and agency names hard to remember.

If you are at a loss as to where to report your stranded turtle, call the information number at the beginning of the state and federal listings in the phone book and ask which number to call.

Will anyone come?

Yes. On weekdays, fisheries service workers will come and check the turtle. On weekends, evenings and holidays, Marine Options Program students from UH-Manoa and UH-Hilo will come. Several pager-carrying students are now employed by the fisheries service turtle program to help answer turtle stranding calls.

Is there any good news about strandings?

Yes. By calling in stranded turtles, people are helping save some. Of the six stranded olive ridley turtles treated by fisheries service veterinarian "Dr. Bob," four have been released and the outlook for the other two is good.