surfers

It’s no secret that the North Shore is teaming with green sea turtles… We see them at virtually every surfing lesson that we give. Weighing up to 700lbs and living as long as 80 years, they are gentle beautiful creatures that have graced the oceans for as long as 150 million years.  With rare exceptions surfers don’t chase them, feed them or harass them in any way. The result is that surfers and turtles  live in harmony in the surf and on the beautiful beaches of the North Shore and around the island of Oahu even including Waikiki.
When giving a surfing lesson, I often joke with my students that I have TADD, or Turtle Attention Deficit Disorder, because when ever I see a turtle I’m compelled to say “hi” as he or she pops it’s head up for a breath of air in the surf. One day we even rescued a little one that had fishing line wrapped all around it’s neck and flippers. Saving that young turtles long life was a beautiful moment for me and my friend, Christi.

It was not always that way back in In 1973, biologist researching the Hawaiian green sea […]