Win an NCL cruise by naming the honu
Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery and Norwegian Cruise Line America will give away four cruises for two aboard the Pride of Hawaii to the winners of the "Honu Aloha" Name the Baby Turtle Contest.
The winners will sail on the Oct. 2-9 cruise, taking a short detour on the morning of Oct. 7, midway along the Kona-to-Kauai leg of the voyage where the turtles will be released. This is the first time sea turtles will be released from a passenger liner in the Hawaiian Islands.
The contest, which ends Sept. 1, asks participants to come up with a name and a short explanation of why that name should be chosen. The four Hawaiian green sea turtles were captive-bred and raised in part by Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery as part of a research project by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, NOAA and National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu.
The turtles, to be tracked with miniature satellite transmitters, will provide information about the movements, feeding ecology and life history of sea turtles in oceanic habitat. The research is part of recovery efforts to help understand, protect and further restore the species.
The green turtle in Hawaii is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act but has made a significant comeback during the past 25 years.
Enter the contest by going to www.sealifeparkhawaii.com and clicking on the "Name the Baby Turtle Contest" link or by picking up an entry blank at Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery. Winners will be announced on the KSSK "Perry and Price Morning Show," 590 AM and 92.3 FM, the week of Sept. 4.
All contestants will receive a free Swim With the Dolphins child's pass with a paying adult for Sea Life Park that is redeemable for select afternoon swims from now until Oct. 1.
KSSK's Michael W. Perry and Sweetie Pacarro will be hosting special events during the seven-day cruise and will be on the crew gangway with the turtles when they are released.
Nonparticipants or those who do not win the contest can purchase a special "Honu Aloha" cruise package by calling Non-Stop Travel at 808-593-0700.
For more information on the contest, call Denise Hayashi, NCL America's director of community relations, at 527-3871; or Ron Hee of Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery, at 259-2500.