I keep an email file called Ocean Watch in which I save letters from readers. At the end of the year, I like to look through the collection and remember the events that prompted people to write. The following are a few of my favorites:
>> Readers’ letters of thanks. I’m continually touched by the number of people who take the time to write not to ask a question or offer a correction, but to simply tell me they like the column. I so appreciate that. It’s your letters, as well as positive comments I get in person, that keep me sharing my marine biology adventures in this space.
>> The kolea named Blanche. Last fall, reader Bill Coke emailed that he saw a white kolea at Heeia Pier. I named the unusual bird Blanche and sent photos to kolea expert Wally Johnson. Turns out that this was a rare bird indeed, being neither albino nor leucistic (a partial loss of pigmentation in an animal). Instead it was a mutation that caused the feathers to bleach in sunlight. Experts determined this because last spring, numerous dark feathers appeared in previously all-white areas, indicating that pigment cells were not absent, just odd. Unfortunately, Blanche didn’t return this fall, but he/she will live throughout history. Johnson recently submitted to a shorebird journal a paper about Blanche.
>> Turtle rescues. When a turtle named Tully lay weak and sick with tumors on a Kahala beach, citizens and federal biologists rose to the occasion. Resident Masako Dix made a sign and driftwood barrier to allow Tully to rest undisturbed while waiting for help. Masako’s neighbor Roy wrote, “Thanks to the NOAA turtle hotline, a turtle team responded … and determined that Tully needed to be taken in for treatment.” Because the turtle had a tumor in its throat that could not be removed, veterinarians had to euthanize the suffering animal. The good news is that these turtle tumors are far less common than they once were and that people have reliable numbers to call for help. (Use search words “Hawaii turtle rescue”). Roy wrote, “The NOAA turtle team did a good job.” That’s my experience with them, too.
Last week I wrote about several nonprofits that research and rescue seabirds. By no means are those all there are here in Hawaii. From another, the Hawaii Wildlife Center, I received this message from a rescued wedge-tailed shearwater chick: “Dear Bird Santa … I swear I’ve been good this year! I ate all my food, did my physical therapy, and only nipped or yelled at HWC staff a few times. I might have thrown a fish or two, but I promise that was it!”
Thank you, everyone, for encouraging me to share another year of marine adventures. I hope the new year brings comfort, security and well-being to all species.
