August may mark the start of school in Hawaiʻi—but it’s also sea turtle nesting season. Since 2020 nesting activity by Hawaiian green sea turtles, or honu, has increased every year across the state—a hopeful sign for this threatened and protected species. But that also means there may be more hatchlings on Hawaiʻi beaches, and beachgoers […]
This story is part of our Meet the Makers feature, which was published in our Fall 2023 issue. In Hawai‘i, we always try to support local. Whether we’re buying produce from the nearby farmers markets or shopping at the mom-and-pop boutique down the street, it means a lot for us to give back to our Island
Two areas on Hawaiʻi Island—both ecologically and culturally important—will now be managed by a government agency, with the hopes of protecting these natural resources. A roughly 1,260-acre parcel in Waiea on the western flank of Mauna Loa has been designated as part of the State Natural Area Reserve (NAR) system managed by the Hawaiʻi Department
The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the world’s most endangered seal species—and for years its population in the Islands have been on a steady (and alarming) decline. But in May the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been monitoring the seal’s population trend and taken action to save them, reported the total population
Hawaiʻi has long been considered the endangered species capital of the world, as the Islands are home to hundreds of endangered and threatened plants and animals. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed delisting nine more Hawaiʻi species from the Endangered Species Act—meaning, wildlife officials will stop searching for them. The nine—eight birds
Hawaiian monk seals are getting a lot of attention this week—and not because they’re critically endangered. (They are.) Two video clips of visitors appearing to disturb Hawaiian monk seals in Hawaiʻi have gone viral recently, prompting an investigation into the incidents by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and community outrage over the illegal
There was something great that happened in 2020. A new Hawaiian monk seal was born. And this month that pup (RM90) got a name. It’s Mele, the Hawaiian word for “song.” The pup, who was born in either late spring or early summer on Oʻahu, was given her name by a group of third graders
Good news for the nene, or Hawaiian goose: It is no longer on the brink of extinction. In a ceremony at Honouliuli National Historic Site on Oahu on Sunday, state officials and U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced that the official state bird of Hawaii is now considered a threatened species under the
As is always the case in conservation, there’s good news—and there’s bad news. Let’s start with the bad. A Hawaiian tree snail named George, the last known member of the species Achatinella apexfulva, died on New Year’s Day. He was 14 and likely the last of his kind in the world. Researchers could never find
