05/01/2019
WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?
“Aloha everyone!! So let me introduce myself. My name is Nico Lopez, a Field Response Manager with Hawaii Marine Animal Response. We always receive calls to our hotline about sea turtles on the beach with a blood like liquid coming from its nose or mouth. I would like to explain why you are seeing this so that you are informed about our Honu's other behaviors besides the basking you see.
Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles (Honu), like all other sea turtles don’t have teeth. They have a stiff upper lip called a cusp and a strong bottom jaw. They do not have a mouth full of teeth, they have an esophagus lined with papillae to break down food (Red Limu) on the way to the stomach. This is where the color or the Limu come into play. While eating, the Honu also ingests sea water into the stomach. This makes the sea water ingested go from clear to red. Now depending on how long the Limu sits in the stomach determines how dark the sea water gets. When the Honu is ready to expel the sea water from its stomach the papillae located in the Honu's esophagus keeps the limu from being regurgitated as it spits up all the sea water in its stomach. This is why you find Honu basking in Hawaii with a pool of red liquid under its head or red liquid coming from its mouth with no injuries visible. It is just removing the ocean from its stomach.
Please follow our guidelines for wildlife viewing by the rule of the thumb, extend your arm straight out horizontally and turn your fist so your thumb is perpendicular with the Aina (ground) and extend your thumb. Now if you can cover the entire animal with your thumb you are far enough away not to cause a disturbance to the animal in view and remember to keep quiet.
If you do find turtle that may look to be in distress or has fishing gear attached or visible injuries please call our hotline at 1(888)256-9840. You can also report all sightings of Hawaiian Monk Seals to this number as well.
If you would like to volunteer with us or are interested in an internship please visit http://h-mar.org.”
https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiMarineAnimalResponse
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Nico Lopez
