{"id":35405,"date":"2025-07-25T04:05:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T04:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/35405\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T04:05:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T04:05:08","slug":"a-new-wave-of-hope-for-hawai%ca%bbis-honu-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/35405\/","title":{"rendered":"A new wave of hope for Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s honu | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

WAIMANALO, Hawaii (Island News) — Humans undergo surgery every day but now, one of Hawaii\u2019s endangered sea turtles is getting the same chance at survival.<\/p>\n

For the first time ever, a life-saving surgical procedure was performed at the Hawai\u02bbi Marine Animal Response (HMAR) Care Center on O\u02bbahu.<\/p>\n

The patient, a juvenile green sea turtle known as OA195, was found with severe fishing line entanglement around its front flipper. Despite weeks of care, the limb continued to deteriorate.<\/p>\n

“The flipper just kind of started to declare itself unusable,” Animal Care Manager Taylor Prostor.\u00a0\u201cAmputation was going to be the best thing for the turtle in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to new equipment, including an anesthesia machine funded by Dr. Tungs, and support from NOAA and Hawaii Pacific University, the team successfully removed the damaged flipper.<\/p>\n

Just one day later, OA195 was swimming strong.<\/p>\n

“He’s maneuvering around great in the tank without that flipper,” Prostor added.<\/p>\n

The surgery marks a milestone for the new Waim\u0101nalo-based center, which opened in Oct. 2023 to treat injured Honu without flying them off-island.<\/p>\n

With 75% of sea turtle strandings in Hawaii happening on O\u02bbahu, the procedure could signal a major breakthrough in timely, local wildlife care.<\/p>\n

The team hopes this is just the beginning, and reminds the public to help protect sea turtles by keeping beaches and waters clear of trash and fishing line.<\/p>\n

If you see a sea turtle in distress, call the NOAA marine wildlife hotline at 888-256-9840.<\/p>\n

HMAR:\u00a0Sea turtles activity conducted pursuant to 50CFR222.310,223.206,17.21,17.31, SAP 2025-49, ES71614D<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


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