Recently published work, however, has suggested that the earth's magnetic field plays a role in these feats. Hawaiian green turtles nest in the isolated French Frigate Shoals, but forage throughout the entire Hawaiian Archipelago, a range of 2450 km. Tagging has indicated that most Hawaiian green turtles seem to settle at a specific foraging ground and leave only to reproduce. Our observations at Honokowai strongly support this theory, since we have seen the same core group of animals every year since 1989. It has been generally accepted, but not proven, that green turtles return to nest on the beach where they were born.
Green turtles do exhibit strong site-fidelity in successive nesting seasons.
Threats The Hawaiian green turtle is fortunate that it shares only some of the same threats that menace all marine turtles, as described in Threats To Marine Turtles . The Hawaiian green does not face most of the common threats to turtle nests and nesting beaches. The most serious threats to the Hawaiian green turtle, however, are the fibropapilloma tumor and the rapid deterioration of its foraging sites. Hawaiian Green Turtle Quick Facts Hawaiian green sea turtles are listed as threatened.