Turtles at Rest, Turtles at Sea

Yesterday, we drove back through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  The park is a mix of desert landscape and jungle and rainforest and savanna all which can be driven through in less than one-hundred miles.  More dramatic than the climate-changes are the impact of volcanic eruptions and lava flows over the course of years.  More recent flows have left either sharp and jumbled landscapes of lava called ‘a,‘ā or stark and smooth flows called pāhoehoe.  These flows often split in two lush forests or desert plains.  Driving along, you seem to almost flash through these landscapes in the way dreams transport you from place to place without logical preparation.

Our final destination yesterday was the black sand beach at Punalù u.  The beach is famous for sea turtles.  The turtles feed on greens in the tide pools and regularly labor up onto the black sand beach to rest alongside the people swimming and playing there.

Here are two photos I took of the turtles.

--Mitchell Hegman