Touching Turtles?

So I went to the Maui Ocean Center yesterday and took a bunch of pictures, saw a ton of marine life, and generally enjoyed the experience.  One thing kept bothering me though, and I couldn't get it out of my head, so this morning I woke up and decided I would write about it.

The sea turtle exhibit at MOC is closed right now, so next to the Hammerhead shark tank, they displayed a big blue bucket and placed a Pacific Green Sea Turtle inside.  These Hawaiian turtles, once a critically endangered species, are still listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act and are protected under Hawaii state law.

According to the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources,  "except for humpback whales, there is no law specifying the minimum distance people can approach a marine mammal or sea turtle. However, getting close to these animals may constitute a federal or state violation if the animal is disturbed or if your action has the potential to disturb its natural behavioral patterns. NOAA and DLNR recommend, for your safety and the animals' protection, that everyone stay at least 150 feet from all marine mammals and sea turtles. If maintaining this distance isn't possible, keep safety in mind and move away from the animal as carefully as possible, avoiding sudden movements and other actions that might disturb the animal."


When we take visitors out snorkeling, we always tell people to keep their distance from the turtles, and of course, not to touch them.  


Imagine my surprise when I approached this bucket with a MOC employee standing next to it permitting people to touch the turtle!  I stood there for awhile and saw half a dozen people touch it, and that was only in a period of a few minutes.  


Can we in the visitor industry change our policies regarding sea turtle interaction?  If the Maui Ocean Center can allow people to do this, then can we?  


Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources
http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dar/marine_mammals.html



US Fish and Wildlife Service
http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/pub/stateOccurrenceIndividual.jsp?state=HI



NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_green_sea_turtle.html