The Hawksbill Sea Turtle | Conservation

The Hawksbill sea turtle is classified as endangered. The exact number of Hawksbill turtles is impossible to know. The fact that the male turtles never return to land, makes it impossible to count them. It also makes it very difficult to stydy the male Hawksbill turtles.

It’s not only in the sea that there are threats to the Hawksbill turtle. Also on the nesting beaches are there numerous threats. The greatest threats are all caused by humans. The eggs are collected for food and adult turtles are captured for meat and their shells. Another great threat from humans is the incidental capture of turtles in fishing gear. Long lines and fishing nets kills thousands of sea turtles every year.

In nature nests are often lost to predators like raccoons, dogs, ghost crabs etc. Shoreline erosion can cause the nest to fall down and either break the eggs or make it impossible for the hatchlings to dig their way up to the surface. This can of course also be caused by humans walking on the beach.

In the time from the female lay the eggs and until the turtles are big enough to avoid being swallowed and eaten by larger fish. Ghost crabs, raccoons, skunks, foxes and dogs. After hatching birds await to snap a quick dinner from the baby turtles. In the sea sharks and fish such as groupers, snappers, and jacks are waiting for the hatchlings.

The greatest predator of the leatherback, however, is people. In some countries, humans kill nesting female turtles and harvest leatherback eggs to eat. And because the turtles leave a trail to their nests when they make their way back to the water, the nests are easy for egg poachers to locate.

Not only killer whales and sharks are the reasons when you see a turtle who has lost a flipper or are injured. Entanglement in fishing gear can result in serious injuries to the turtles, including severe cuts and necrosis or in worst case death. Entanglement can also lead to death by drowning. Sometimes Leatherbacks has the size and power to swim to the surface of the water, when it’s trapped in fishing lines and gear, where they are discovered and released. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.