Once upon a time, there was a green sea turtle named Bob, who traveled all the way from his birthplace on Kauai, Hawaii, to the Great Barrier Reef. While he was there, he made a new friend, a tiger shark named Tiger Woods. They hung out together for many months until the day came for Bob had to return home to Kauai. On that day, they both promised to write one another and to always stay friends . . .

Dear Tiger Woods,

 Hey Braddah! It took me many months to get back home to Anini Reef off Kauai, Hawaii. As I was leaving the Great Barrier Reef, I tried looking for my friend Chump so I could say farewell, but I never found him. He is a clownfish. Can you tell him I say "hi" if you see him? On my way to Kauai, I saw many of my friends with plastic wrapped around them. One of the manta rays was so tied up he could barely breathe! I'm really worried. Why is there so much plastic in the ocean?

 It is good to be home, but I have to get used to the currents here. Today, I surfed in a huge wave and I almost cracked my shell! That's one of the differences between my home and yours. Our fringing reef because it is right off the shore and has giant waves! Please write me back. 

                                                                                                                                                Aloha, 

                                                                                                                                Bob the Green Sea Turtle

Dear Bob, G'day Mate! 

Thanks for writing me bro. I tried to find your clownfish friend Chump but I couldn't even find an anemone! Yesterday, I asked my friend Roberto Hernado, a Great White Shark, about Chump and he said there was a huge bleaching event here and all of the anemones died. Clownfish depend on anenomies because they hide from predators and lay eggs in them, so many clownfish probably died too. 

I hope your manta ray friend is okay. We also had Toby Black, a black tip reef shark, get trash stuck in his mouth and he could not eat for a week! 

I hope you survived that big wave! That wave story was gnarly mate.  Are you having any problems on the fringing reef by Kauai? Write me back!

                                                                                                                                        Hooroo Mate, 

                                                                                                                           Tiger Woods the Tiger Shark

Dear Tiger Woods, 

It's too bad you couldn't find Chump. I hope he's okay and that he finds a new anemone home. When I arrived at my Kauai home, I was shocked to see only a little bit of coral. There used to be so much more! Apparently, Kauai had a massive bleaching event too! I hope the coral grows back. When I was a baby turtle, Kauai was filled with rice coral, mound coral, and cauliflower coral. Now so much of the coral is gone! If all of the coral goes away it will be bad. I will have no more limu to eat because it grows on coral. What can we do?

                                                                                                                     Love,

                                                                                                                        Bob

Dear Bob,

Yeah, it's so sad that our reefs are dying. If we don't have limu, that will mess up the whole food chain!  I learned that coral bleaching is caused by increasing ocean temperatures. Roberto Hornado said the ocean is like a big sponge and it sucks up all the heat and gases in the air that come from cars, power plants and factories. I think people should drive electric vehicles charged by electricity from solar panels. Also, people need to stop polluting the Earth with trash (especially plastic) and stop using fossil fuels! What are your ideas? 

                                                                                                                   Hooroo, 

                                                                                                                Tiger Wood

Dear Tiger Woods,

Driving electric cars is a good way to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I think that it would be a good idea to make fossil fuel power plants illegal. Also, humans could install solar panels everywhere. The sun's energy is so powerful! 

Have you heard about the problem my friend Makana the humpback whale is having? The ocean temperature is getting too hot for her to give birth! Scientists say humpback whales can only give birth in water that is 70-82 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm so worried humpback whales will stop visitng Kauai. What kind of problems is your home having?

                                                                                         Aloha kakou, 

                                                                                                                          Bob

Dear Bob,

Thank you for letting me know that my idea of electric vehicles is great. I am so happy that I have an encouraging friend like you. I can't believe humans haven't banned fossil fuel power plants! There are many factories near my home and huge boats that transport the fuel. So much oil and pollution spill out of those boats and it is destroying my home. These boats also run into my ocean friends! Henry the Porpoise got hit by one last week! Humans need to act fast and make better choices before our home is completely destroyed!

                                                                                                             Your Mate,

                                                                                                                T.W.

Dear T.W.,

I hope your friend Henry is going to be okay! I am sad to say we have boat problems too. Off the coast of Kauai, fishermen scared my turtle friend, Canwhips. He got caught in a fishing net! Thankfully he said there was this thingamajiggy that let him out of the fishing boat's net. It was like a special gate just for turtles to escape nets.  I'm so glad some humans are trying to keep turtles safe. Are there any fishing boats in your realm?

                                                                                                                            Love,

                                                                                                                             Bob