Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles

Okay, I promise not to blog about animals all the time, but it's just that there's so much to see! I kid you not ... Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles, as big as coffee tables! At a beach just below Chun's Reef, these guys come into the shallow water and up onto the narrow strip of sand to sun themselves for the afternoon. They are HUGE and stunning and ... and ... and ... oh, my goodness.

This Florida girl has seen a lot of neat stuff, mostly thanks to SeaWorld and Disney. But to stand just a few feet away from these ancient monsters took my breath (and speech) away.

After a few minutes of gaping, I noticed an Asian woman about my age, patiently calling out, "Sea turtle! Stand back from sea turtle!" Her face was hidden in inches of sun screen, and she wore a long-sleeved rash guard (a bathing suit shirt). I loved her wedge haircut and bright red swim shorts. I asked her if yelling at people all day gets old. She admitted that it does.

Tourists can be a bit silly. Folks stand or swim too close to the turtles to get their picture taken, sometimes in the way of a turtle's approach to the beach. Since turtles don't really smile like porpoises or manatees, it's impossible to tell if they like all the attention or not.

A group of volunteers suit up for hours at a time to walk up and down the beach and ask tourists to step back from these astounding creatures, with their pancake-sized flippers and saw-toothed jaws. I said to the Asian lady, "Thank you for what you do. It matters so much." She was stunned. Her mouth hung open, and then she started to stutter. We asked her many questions about the turtles, and keeping one eye on a gaggle of teenaged girls in masks and goggles, she educated us about Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles.

We didn't stay for long. Matt was distressed at the tourists' lack of regard for the turtles, and my eyebrows were turning white from equatorial exposure. But before we left, the volunteer tapped my elbow.

"Thank you," she said.

Imagine that. She gives up her precious weekends to speak up for critters who can't speak up for themselves. And she thanked me.

Such a fine world we live in.