Posts Tagged ‘Maalaea’

Maui Ocean Center Welcomes New Turtles

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Turtle CrossingI just received a note from subscribing to the Maui Ocean Center newsletter that they will be having a traditional Hawaiian blessing tomorrow, August 27th at 1pm to welcome a batch of 6 new hatchlings on loan from Sea Life Park on Oahu.

We’ve been huge fans of these guys since we first saw them popping up their heads from the water outside of our ocean front room at the Sheraton. And since we’re not avid snorkelers, we get our up-close turtle fix by visiting the Maui Ocean Center instead. Based on this update from the MOC, I think there’s a very good chance we’ll be paying them a visit next month as part of our mini Trip 5. They look too cute to pass up.

More from the newsletter:

Turtles at Maui Ocean Center
Maui Ocean Center cares for a total of 12 green sea turtles; the six new hatchlings and six which are juvenile. While at Maui Ocean Center, the turtles are fed a primarily vegetarian diet, including algae brought from the ocean, to prepare them for their eventual release to the open sea. The turtles were captive-bred at Sea Life Park on Oahu. Sea Life Park is home to a colony of adult Hawaiian green sea turtles which produces 200 to 300 hatchlings each year, most of which are released into the wild. A few of these, including the turtles at Maui Ocean Center, become part of the Hawaii Green Sea Turtle Educational Loan Program and are released at a later age to provide an educational opportunity for those that visit these institutions.

If you happen to be nearby in the next month or so, and hadn’t thought of visiting the ocean center, maybe this might change your mind.

In fact, I remember shooting video from the Turtle Lagoon exhibit at the MOC a few years ago that I posted on YouTube. Grant it, I spend way more time working with Photoshop than editing movies, so the quality has a lot to be desired, but it’s still fun. Someday I’ll get around to tweaking the quality.

In any case, here you go.

More Honu Love

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in News, Trip 5 Plans, Videos | 1 Comment »

Sunday Photo: View from Papawai Lookout

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

Papawai 001
Papawai 001
Taken by Kris Nelson on June 7, 2006
Location: Papawai Scenic Lookout, Maalaea

When writing about the Lahaina Bypass yesterday, I was looking for any photos that we might have taken from along Hwy 30 going to or from the Kahului Airport. Alas, I came up empty (another todo for February). But in the process, I thumbed through the photos we had taken from the Papawai Scenic Lookout, which is also along Hwy 30. Another one of our annual traditions is to stop off at this lookout on the travel day home, and give one last Aloha to Maui before we leave. It’s always a bittersweet moment.

On the plus side, I was reading up on places to Whale Watch in our latest Maui guidebook, and it pointed out that this scenic lookout is actually a great place to catch the whales that frequent the area during the winter months. Come to think about it, and looking at the spectacular view in the photo above, it does seem like a great place to whale watch. To top it off, the Pacific Whale Foundation actually sets up a little educational spot at the lookout with one of their volunteers to help raise awareness and give out pointers for what you’re able to see during peak viewing times. That sounds pretty cool.

So take a good look at the photo above, because in a few months, I might be posting one just like it, only with a few happy mammals in it.

Mahalo.

If you’d like to see more photos, you can check out our Sunday Photos category here at the blog, featuring a new photo every week. Our website also features daily photos on the Today’s Photos page, and if you’re Flickr fans like us, you can check out our Ka’anapali Dreamin’ collection.

What to own or use any of our photos? Check out our new photo store, Maui Wall Candy, for purchase info and ideas on what you can do with them. Both print and digital formats are available.

Also, subscribe to our blog to get the latest updates throughout the week.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Sunday Photos | No Comments »

Sunday Photo: Grumpy Honu

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

Grumpy Honu
Grumpy Honu
Originally uploaded by webnelly

Honu, is the Hawaiian name for Sea Turtle. These are green sea turtles that are part of the Turtle Lagoon exhibit at the Maui Ocean Center. They always seem to be grumpy (hence the name of the photo) whenever we see them in photos or even near Black Rock when we see them poke their head above water for air. I think one of the reasons we get a kick out of these guys is because of the Comcast commercials they had here in Chicago a few years ago with The Slowskys.

Unfortunately, we don’t scuba dive and don’t get the opportunity to go down under the water and watch these guys swim close up. There are tons of photos on Flickr that people have taken doing just that. Here’s one of my favorites. Maybe someday we’ll break down, learn to snorkel first and then take the plunge.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Sunday Photos | No Comments »