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Kauai Seariders Video
Dolphins Play on the NaPali Coast
SPINNER DOLPHIN ON KAUA'IS' NA PALI COAST
As the Humpback Whales head north to their summer feeding grounds we look forward to a great Summer season of NaPali Coast Snorkel Raft Tours.
Hawai’i is known as a tropical , warm and unchanging environment, but we truly have seasons. The ocean is ever- changing and as we are in the central pacific, we are affected by the currents and storm systems of both the North and South Pacific.
Spring has arrived and the turtles will be nesting soon and the dolphin are actively mating and playing around the Zodiac. The Sea Riders’ crew respect and appreciate the NOAA Code of Conduct when wild ocean animals are around us. We don’t swim with the dolphin or feed them, but treat them with caution and respect.
We will be commencing our “Na Pali Eco-Charter” on May 1st , when the surf has mellowed and we can snorkel next to the cliffs and enter the Sea Caves. I look forward to exciting adventures and dolphin viewing on every snorkel excursion – here’s to a safe and fun season!
Non-Profit Outreach is Possible Due to Your Support – Thank you!
I want to send out a Big Mahalo to all of the “Sea Riders” who have gone out on our Whale Watching excursions this year! So Far, we have had a remarkable season and some amazing encounters! Several sightings of Entangled and distressed or deceased Humpbacks as well, so I want you to know that you have also contributed to Whale Research when you go out on our 2 Hour PM Excursions! We also sponsor Outreach for the children of Kaua’i and help various non-profit organizations who could not contribute monetarily. This season we have three NOAA Teacher Workshops with Jean Souza and volunteers from the Kaua’i Marine Sanctuary. We also comp a teenage Hawaiian Mentorship program and Hale Opio. Whale Watching Fund Raiser for “Surf Haiti” a great, non-profit organization that helps with getting Clean Water to the community there, still suffering from the Earthquake. I have been blessed with the vessel and the location— to be able to give back is amazing in this economy and without your support that wouldn’t be possible! Thank you from Captain Tara and Crew at Kaua’i Sea Riders!
…the Most Spiritual & Uplifting Experience of our Kauai Visit.
Cap’n Tara,
Have just retrieved my shirt from the dash of your experienced and venerable “Jimmy” pickup.
Thank you for hanging onto it for me…more importantly, thank you from Sheila and myself for the most spiritual and uplifting experience of our Kauai visit. We hope to someday go with you again to see the whales. Till then we leave the beautiful monsters in your caring and capable hands.
Mahalo nui loa.
Roger & Sheila
Sea Turtles- Birth Announcement 500+Hatchlings on Kaua’i!
Green Sea Turtle Hatchlings/PMRF
In the Hawaiian Islands, Green Sea Turtles have made a great comeback in the past few decades. On our Snorkel charters, it still amazes me to see the sheer number of animals we are blessed to swim with everyday. As a Marine Biologist, I am then overwhelmed that I have lived long enough to see female sea turtles come back to the major Hawaiian Islands to nest. Here on Kaua’i we can boast more turtle nests than anywhere in the state!
This fall season it has been recorded that 19 Kaua’i beaches (360 degrees around the island) have had successful sea turtle nests. Although the true tally of live turtle hatchlings has not been published, the 2011 estimate is 500-1,000!
This increase is very encouraging, yet only a few hatchlings per nest will survive to adulthood.
Photo: Courtesy of Smithsonian Institute
Turtle tracks-Polihale
Female often come ashore to nest, several times in a season, but will wait 2 or 3 years to nest again. Green Sea Turtles nest at night and dig a “body pit” with rear flippers She will deposit approximately 100 eggs into this flask shaped egg cavity. The female will cover the nest with sand and head back to the sea. That is the end of her parental involvement.
The incubation period is 2 months.
Turtles use a specialized egg-tooth called a caruncle to break free of their shell and then use teamwork to climb to the surface. The journey to the ocean is when the turtle hatchlings become affected by environmental hazards. Vehicle tracks and marine debris are some of the physical threats caused by humans, but by far the lights on a beach will disorient and misdirect the young turtles and prevent them from reaching the sea. Predators, such as sea birds, octopus and fish, will await the turtle luau. These surviving hatchlings truly learn to swim quickly and frantically into open ocean using amazing instincts and magnetic orientation!