Irene Kelly, the NOAA Fisheries Sea Turtle Recovery Coordinator, writes about Laniakea in the 2017 issue of SWOT (The State of the World’s Sea Turtles) Report. Below are excerpts from “Trapped in the Crossroads of Honu Conservation” by Irene Kelly and Jennifer Homcy.

“At Laniakea Beach on the North Shore of Oahu, tourists park illegally and run across a busy two-lane highway to see basking turtles, thereby creating a turtle traffic bottleneck.”

“The frustration deepens further as locals feel increasingly isolated—even abandoned—by the very agencies that are responsible for managing these conflicts. Wildlife enforcement officers commit almost no resources to enforcing harassment laws because no amount of human disturbance seems to deter turtles from thriving.”

“Volunteers dedicate time to educational outreach that promotes low-impact practices, such as viewing sea turtles from a respectful distance of at least 10 feet (3 meters). When people follow environmentally responsible guidelines, the turtles’ basking or foraging behavior exhibits little change, and tourists are able to enjoy honu while still getting their desired photos.”

 “Thus, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its local partners are actively working with HTA to encourage lawful and responsible marketing and messaging, to manage visitor expectations, and to promote respectful honu viewing by tourists.”

Read the full article here. SWOT Report, Vol. 12

In this article, NOAA acknowledges that the turtle traffic and turtle harassment at Laniakea exists. Yet, NOAA won’t commit any resources to enforce the laws, so a group of volunteers (started by NOAA) lets tourists continue to enjoy and take “their desired photos” of turtles at Laniakea, even though the turtles “exhibit little change” in basking and foraging behavior. Instead of enforcing the ESA law, which is their job, NOAA has been “actively” promoting turtle viewing with HTA (Hawaii Tourism Authority).