In Hawaiʻi, less than 200 nesting female hawksbill sea turtles have been documented in the last 30 years.These turtles—known as honu‘ea in Hawaiian—make up one of the most endangered sea turtle populations in the world.

NOAA Fisheries research suggests individuals in this small population spend their lives around the Hawaiian Islands. They are also genetically distinct from other hawksbill populations in the Pacific. “These turtles are Hawaiian hawksbills,” says Lauren Kurpita, coordinator of the Hawaiʻi Island Hawksbill Project, a small conservation program that’s based out of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and looks after the turtles.

The vast majority of female honu‘ea nest solely along the southern coast of Hawaiʻi Island. Here, they face a multitude of challenges.

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