Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project

Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund has conducted research and monitored the nesting activities of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) since 1996. During this time, our dedicated volunteers and researchers have protected more than 10,300 hatchlings as they scrambled to the ocean.

There are fewer than 100 adult female hawksbills known to nest in all of Hawai‘i (locally referred to as honu‘ea or ‘ea). On Maui, fewer than 2 may nest each year during the nesting season, and 15-25 females statewide. The species is listed as critically-endangered in Hawai‘i and worldwide and needs our continued support and protection.

Through conservation efforts, public awareness, beachfront lighting reductions, fence repairs, dune restoration, beach cleanups, radio and satellite telemetry, coordination of monitoring for nesting turtles through the Dawn Patrol and Nest Watch program, genetic foraging studies, and determining in-water distribution and abundance, HWF is helping to save hawksbills and their nesting habitats.

You can help protect honu‘ea by joining us or donating to our project – and by picking up trash along the coastline, leaving no food waste (that attracts invasive predators), reducing beach lighting, helping to prevent hardening shorelines (seawalls), coastal erosion, and other impacts from climate change.