Interesting Facts

•The Hawsksbill Sea Turtle is the most endangered of all the turtle species.

Its population has declined over 80% in a century.

•One of the most important reasons for the global decline of the Hawksbill

Sea Turtle has been the high demand for its richly patterned shell. It is used

in a variety of products including tortoise shell combs, inlays in fine

furniture and jewelry. Its bones were used to make tools and other parts to

make traditional medicine. Its decline is also due to its use as ceremonial

and religious practice.

•A shell can sell for up to $100 a pound (450 grams).

•One Hawksbill can consume 1,000 lbs of sponges per year, if they are not

eaten by Hawksbills coral reefs can suffocate.

•More than 50% of turtles eggs are stolen by humans.

•Eating sea turtles and their eggs can cause chelonotoxism.

Name

•Scientific Name: Eretmochelys

imbricata.

•Common Name: Hawksbill Turtle,

Hawksbill Sea Turtle.

Distribution and Population

•Hawksbill Sea Turtles have a global distribution throughout the tropics

and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

•They nest in at least 70 countries and are believed to inhabit the coastal

waters of at least 108 countries.

•This species has seen a population decline of over 80% over the last

century.

•There are two subpopulations: Atlantic (Eretmochelys imbricata

imbricata) and Indo-Pacific (Eretmochelys imbricata bissa).

•The largest populations are found in the coasts of the Caribbean Sea,

Mexico, Indonesia, Seychelles and Australia.

•Major threats to its population is the result of over exploitation of adult

females and their eggs, degradation of nesting and marine habitats,

slaughter for meat, accidental death due to marine fisheries, pollution,

juvenile and adult catches for tortoiseshell trade.

Habitat

•Hawksbills nest on tropical and subtropical sandy beaches.

•They are migratory species and use a number of habitats throughout

their lives.

•Juveniles inhabit foraging environments not far from the beaches where

they were born.

•When their carapace reach 20 to 30 cm they inhabit coral reefs, algal

beds, creeks or mud flats. As they get older they tend to live in deeper

sites.

•When they reach sexual maturity at 20 to 25 years they start migrating

from foraging grounds to breeding areas.