The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii plans to buy 24 acres on the Big Island that includes the state's premier nesting beach for endangered hawksbill sea turtles. Big Island land buy
to help turtlesThe conservancy plans to help an
endangered species with its purchaseBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comSecluded Kamehame Beach in the Kau district is where more than 30 of the 50 females that nest in the state lay their eggs, said Chris Swenson, Pacific Islands coastal program coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Nature Conservancy purchase is an "excellent thing that's going to protect that area in perpetuity now," Swenson said. "That beach is the most important one in the state for the species ... and the main hawksbill factory in the U.S."
Ka'u Agribusiness, a subsidiary of C. Brewer, is selling the land, which is north of the black-sand beach at Punaluu, for $85,000. The Nature Conservancy is holding a special fund drive through July 31 to raise the money, said spokesman Grady Timmons.
For 10 years, C. Brewer has allowed the Fish and Wildlife Service and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to run a cooperative program at the crescent-shape beach.
Swenson said volunteers document where the females bury their eggs in the sand, which begins each year in June. They then return in shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to watch over the nests to keep away predators, such as mongooses.
About two months later, the palm-size hatchlings emerge from their leathery eggs, wiggle up through a couple feet of sand and crawl toward the water, where they spend the next 10 or more years growing to maturity.
The adult female always returns to the beach where she was born to lay her eggs, so keeping nesting beaches undisturbed is crucial, Swenson said.
Even if someone built just a fishing cottage on the beach, the presence of people, dogs and lights could deter the hawksbills from nesting, he said. "The females are pretty sensitive. They won't come up (to lay eggs) if it's disturbed."