There is a beach up on the North Shore where you can almost always see Hawaiian green sea turtles. There are about forty (I think) that live in the area and usually one or two are up on the sand, basking. It’s an ideal place for them, and an ideal place to take out of town guests who want to see the native wildlife.

Yesterday afternoon we stopped up there even though the weather had been cloudy all day and it was still overcast; the weather had cleared just enough for a little sun to peek through the clouds and I hoped that a turtle or two would take advantage of the warmth.

Were we ever surprised at what we found!

She was lying in the middle of a group of three turtles, very near to “Brutus,” the big male we’ve seen several times. We stood and watched her for the longest time, and it was so interesting to watch how she moved across the sand, and wiped the sand out of her eyes with her front flipper. She kept looking at the turtle with one eye, unsure if he was going to come closer, and when the tide came in and tickled her, she scooted up the sand.

It’s the first wild monk seal I’ve seen since we moved here. Isn’t she pretty? ^_^