Hawaiian Honu - Sea Turtle Tile

In Hawaii, legend tells about a green sea turtle, Kauila, who could change herself into a girl to watch over the children playing at Punalu'u Beach on the Big Island. When Kauila's mother dug her nest, a fresh water spring surged upward, quenching the children's thirst. Kauila is the "mythical mother" of all turtles, and perhaps of our children as well. It's also said that turtles were the guides for the first voyagers to Hawaii. In the Hawaiian waters, living close to our shores, swims the threatened green sea turtle (chelonia mydas), the petroglyphic "honu" of the Hawaiians. Not only the ali'i, chiefs and leaders in the years of monarchy, feasted on the flesh but millions of these trusting reptiles have ended up in soup pots worldwide. Around Hawaii's coral reefs dwells also the shy, almost extinct hawksbill (eretmochelys imbricata), 'ea' in Hawaiian, whose fate is linked to the continuing, be it illegal, demand for its shining tortoise shell. Prices in the hundreds of dollars lure silent hunters out of demand for decorative dishes, hair combs and jewelry. Now, only a few dozen hawksbills nest each year in Hawaii.