2024-03-04 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Leone R. Sutton Opposition Testimony

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To: Windward Planning Commission of the County of Hawaii Subject: Special Management Area permit for Punalu'u Village BLACK SAND BEACH LLC (PL-SMA-2023-000046) Aloha, My name is Leone R Sutton and I'm a volunteer with Malama Pono Punalu'u (a beach & green sea turtle stewardship program) and a local Hawaiian hawksbill turtle group. I have been volunteering with turtle programs for the greater part of a decade across the United States and Hawaii. Through all my experience, the Kau coast and its unique habitat for critically endangered species is unparalleled anywhere else in America. On the coast of North Carolina I witnessed first hand the devastating impacts that development has on the Loggerhead Sea Turtles. Those areas represented rural America till money infused the local county and governance to build bigger and entice influx of non-local residents. The result was pressure from lights, noise and people. These pressures resulted in nesting mothers being unable to find suitable locations to lay eggs, caused unavoidable damage with predation by pets and pests, and forced the relocation of nests because of negative human wildlife interactions. All these concerns result in reductions in surviving juvenile populations and decreases in opportunities for nesting mothers; all causing a loss in the overall population needed to survive. Kau Hawaii is home to one of the most endangered turtles in the world, nesting Hawksbill Sea Turtles, as well as basking/resting Green Sea Turtles. Sea turtles are a vital part of the marine ecosystems in Kau. They are a link in the food chain that is already off balance from overfishing, coral reef bleaching, harvesting of sharks, and overwhelming pressures of global climate change, etc. Their importance can not be overstated within the environment, and as a majestic marine species they serve as a major source of awe and amazement for locals and tourists alike. In the U.S. Pacific, hawksbills nest primarily in Hawaii where 10 to 25 females nest annually on beaches along the south coast of the island of Hawaii and the east coast of the island of Molokai. This population may constitute one of the smallest hawksbill nesting populations in the world, but is the largest in the Central North Pacific Ocean. As you may know, Hawaiian hawksbills are critically endangered. Here in Ka'u is where most of the hawksbills lay their eggs and it's estimated that there are maybe 20 nesting females each year on our shores. This past summer and fall we had several hawksbill nests at Punalu'u and other nearby beaches, which was good news. They usually return to their place of birth to nest. We had not had a nest on Punalu'u since 2018. Hawksbills are very sensitive to light, both when nesting and when trying to reach the ocean after they hatch. They recognize their ocean home by light reflecting off the water. Stranded mothers have been found circling underneath lighted structures. Baby turtles have been seen going towards artificial lights, even when the ocean was within 10 feet.