Green Sea Turtle

Names and classification

Scientific name

Chelonia mydas

Common names

Green Sea Turtle

Hawaiian names

honu

Family

Cheloniidae

Kauaʻi occurrence and status

Kauaʻi occurrence

Present

Origin

Indigenous

Conservation status

Threatened (ESA, Central North Pacific DPS)

Evidence limits

Occurrence is supported; local abundance and impact estimates remain less certain than presence.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats

Nearshore reefs, algal foraging areas, resting/basking sites and Kauaʻi nesting beaches; exact sensitive nest locations suppressed publicly.

Food and resource needs

Primarily marine algae/seagrass as larger juveniles/adults; diet varies by life stage.

Reproduction

Suitable nesting beaches, appropriate sand conditions and temperature, low disturbance, and ocean access.

Shelter

Marine resting/refuge areas; nesting-beach structure where applicable.

Threats and conservation

Threats

Fisheries interactions, entanglement, marine debris, vessel strikes, coastal disturbance, habitat change, disease and climate-related nesting impacts.

Conservation actions

Protect habitat, reduce fisheries/debris/disturbance risk, comply with protected-species rules, and monitor occurrence and reproductive activity.

Monitoring

Maintain coastal/offshore occurrence records and protect precise sensitive nesting-site data; improve Kauaʻi-specific abundance/use estimates.

Data gaps

Kauaʻi-specific abundance, movement, and use are incompletely resolved at public-safe spatial precision.

Process and seasonal context

Seasonal timing

Year-round presence varies by species; nesting is seasonal where documented.

Seasonal description

Green Sea Turtle (Honu) (Chelonia mydas) is an indigenous marine reptile documented in Kauaʻi waters; local nesting/foraging details are represented only at conservation-safe public precision.

Sources and further reading

• Hawaiʻi DLNR DAR — Sea Turtles
• NOAA NCCOS / BOEM — Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the Main Hawaiian Islands — Sea Turtles