I took a walk on the beach at Ali'i Beach Park in Haleiwa one afternoon. As I walked past the palms to the shoreline, I heard a bird squak. At first I looked up for the bird. Then I proceeded to walk on the rocky shore and while watching my steps, I saw a lithium camera battery. This is a place where endangered Hawaiian sea turtles emerge and climb ashore. I picked up the battery and took another direction to the right. I walked on the path that looped back to the main beach. I heard a bird squak again. I looked around at the ground and I found two more AA camera batteries with Japanese Kanji on them. I looked around a little more and headed to the lifeguard house. When I was closer to the infamous Baywatch lifeguard house I returned to a nearby picnic table under a palm tree, and again the bird squaked/shrieked loudly. This time, I saw the battery was under the picnic table.
I'm not joking about the bird shrieking when I was within arm's reach of these camera batteries. However, judging by the urgency of the shrieks and squats from the bird(s), the batteries must pose enough of a hazard that yes, even the birds are being proactive.
I'm not sure how to make tourists understand that leaving camera batteries on the shoreline with endangered species is not appropriate disposal. Even if a trash can is still not proper battery disposal, it is better than leaving the batteries to corrode and harm sealife. I can imagine that the battery acid can main and blind and burn the endangered Sea turtles.
