A close up of a green turtle flipper as it hauled its way through the sand, back toward the water.
Tag Archives: Turtles
Green turtle swimming
Another post on the WordPress photo challenge theme of ‘serene.’
While waiting to board a boat to see the wonders of Hawaii’s ocean life, this green sea turtle obligingly drifted through the blue-green water alongside the quay. Green turtles generally appear to have an unflappable countenance, but the slightly surreal clear water adds a particular air of serenity I think.
Abstracts: A wavy green turtle
A green turtle takes on a different appearance as it swims through the waters of Kiholo Bay. The original photo (above) already has an impressionistic look, but I experimented with a few effects and quite like the subtle difference of the posterized version below.
Green turtle swimming
Another post on the theme of ‘Glow,’ this week’s WordPress photo challenge.
I saw this green turtle swimming in clear water while out walking. I like how the late afternoon light causes the turtle’s shell to glow in contrast to its cool, blue environment.
Hawksbill turtle
Returning from a long swim, I spotted this turtle cruising along beneath me. I turned to follow it, usually the cue for a turtle to glide away, leaving me in its wake. But this one circled around and went back and forth in the same area for a while.
At first I assumed it was a green turtle, which are most commonly seen around here, but I realized that this one looked a bit different. The bill seemed more pointed and the edge of its shell was serrated. I thought it might be a hawksbill turtle, which are seldom seen here.
When I got home and checked my book it confirmed that the turtle was a hawksbill, which is the first I’ve seen.
Abstracts: Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles
This pair of yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles were waiting for something at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens. Perhaps they were plotting a breakout, figuring out how to cut through the mesh, before making a plod for it.
For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.
Kiholo turtle collage
Since this week’s WordPress photo challenge is ‘collage,’ I thought I’d see just how much I’ve forgotten about Photoshop Elements, or how much I never knew. The answer is a lot, on both counts. Still I had fun figuring a few things out and I like this collage of turtle photos, taken the last time I was at Kiholo.
Kiholo fish pond channel
About ¾ of a mile east of the parking area at Kiholo State Park Reserve is this channel or ‘auwai. It connects what remains of Kiholo fish pond with the ocean. King Kamehameha 1 is credited with building the fish pond though he may have actually improved one that was already there. In his day, the pond was much larger than it is today, a lava flow from one of Mauna Loa’s periodic eruptions having filled in a good deal of it.
Turtles and, of course, fish go back and forth through this channel, which also flushes brackish water from the pond. While the pond is on private land, it’s always fun to pause on the little bridge and scan the channel to see if anything is on the move.
For more information about Kiholo fish pond, go to www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/hawaii/placesweprotect/kiholo-preserve.xml.
Graham's Island 