Dive at Airport Beach about a mile south, and the young turtles seem fine. But at Honokowai, tumors run rampant. The odds are much against them. This is a video capture image of Howzit, one of the smallest turtles we saw in 1992. Howzit was not much larger than a dinner plate that summer.
Recruits stand out because of both their small size and their unusually clean shells.
Give a turtle a name and you make it a friend. I write because our turtles can't. These creatures need help. Only modest headway has been made against this disease. But mainly I am writing this with the hope that some kid who loves the ocean and its creatures reads this and sees my words as inspiration.