Sea Birds: The Hawksbill Sea Turtle

Introduction: The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) belongs to the family Cheloniidae and has a worldwide distribution occurring in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. The species carries this common name because of their narrow, pointed beak. This turtle is also named tortue imbriquée in French, and tortuga de carey in Spanish.

Description: The hawksbill has an elongated head with a sharp and curved beak-like mouth. Their top shell (carapace) is dark to golden brown. Their flipper-like arms are adapted for swimming in the open ocean. The species is distinguished by its saw-like appearance of its shell margins. The overlapping scale pattern makes their shell a precious item to the tortoiseshell market. The hawksbills

In addition to the sponges, the hawksbills may also feed on algae, invertebrates, comb jellies and other jellyfish, and sea anemones. Hawksbills are resistant to eating some of toxic sponges. The shape of the mouth allows the hawksbill turtle to reach into holes and crevices of coral reefs to find sponges and other invertebrates.

Reproduction and life history: Sexual maturity of Hawksbills is influenced by biotic and abiotic cues including individual genetics, foraging quantity and quality and/or population density, and hence the age at sexual maturation and nesting varies from as low as 10 years to as high as 30 years. Male hawksbills mature when they are about 70 cm long while females mature at about 80 cm. Even though hawksbills are solitary for most of their lives; they meet only to mate.

Hawksbills mate every 2-3 years. After mating and during the night, female turtles reach the nesting beach where she was born. The female clears an area of debris and with the help of her flippers she digs a nesting hole in which she lays an egg clutch of about 130-140 eggs and covers them with sand. Generally, a female hawksbill lays 3-5 nests per nesting season. Afterwards, the female returns to the

The destruction of coral reef habitats is another issue of concern and considered a major threat to hawksbill populations especially this species of sea turtles relies on coral reefs for food and shelter. Therefore, factors that affect coral reefs would ultimately threaten hawksbills; climate change, siltation, indiscriminate anchoring, pollution and disease are examples.

Incidental entanglement in fishing gear and ingestion of debris: Hawksbills represent the highest proportion of all sea turtles which got entangled in monofilament gill nets or captured on fishing hooks; flippers are mostly get lost. Similarly, the ingestion of marine debris in hawksbills –especially juveniles- is significant. The abiotic debris includes plastic bags, plastic pellets, Styrofoam pieces, tar balls, and balloons). The debris ingestion may lead to the obstruction of the gut, and/or the absorption of toxic