Sea Turtles in Waikiki? Yes, Indeed!

So this is a little bit off the blogging path for me. Usually I just write about hiking and such, however I just wanted to share a little something that happened today. My family and and myself have been making an effort to squeeze in more beach days before summer vacay ends. So we headed out to the beach again today- this time we went to Waikiki near Fort DeRussy. In the late afternoons there is usually a band playing at one of the beach front hotels, so we were able to listen to music and play in the waves. While hanging out on the beach we spotted three very large sea turtles in the water. Now for those who know me, they know that I have pictures of sea turtles spotted at various locations around the island on my Facebook page, so why is this a surprise? Well, to be honest I rarely see sea turtles in the water near Waikiki. A couple of years ago I saw one in the harbor down by the Ilikai hotel, and then last month we spotted another one while kayaking, pretty close to the same spot we were hanging out at today, only much further out in the water. I know that surfers and ocean swimmers sight these beauties all the time on the South shore. But to see three really large sea turtles, and for them to be so close to shore (I thought they might end up on the beach), was something special.
Here is the thing though, I just have to make this a PSA. As soon as people started spotting the turtles they had to try to swim right out to them. I don't advise doing this. Keep your distance- they are a protected species and they can bite or bump into you should you get to close. I will never understand why humans feel like they have to get so close to these animals. They are easily, and much better photographed from the shoreline. In fact, I got one decent shot of one of the turtles that we saw today, and I will post that once I get the pictures uploaded.
Well that's about it for this post. Be cautious out there in those South shore waves and keep an eye on the littlest swimmers and non-swimmers for that matter. The waves are fun to play in but lately they have been pretty big! Have fun and mahalo for reading!