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Anatomy of the Hawksbill Turtle | |||
| The Hawksbill sea turtle is one of the largest sea turtles. Where the Leatherback has a soft leathery shell, the Hawksbill has a hard reddish-brown shell. Carapace is bony without ridges and has large, non-overlapping, rough scutes (scales) present with 5 lateral scute. |  | ||
 | The neck and flippers are usually dull brown to reddish brown on top and medium to pale yellow on the sides and bottom. Front flippers are short and thick with 2 claws, while the rear flippers can have 2 or 3 claws. The Hawksbill sea turtle got their name from their large head compared to the rest of their body. Their large and powerful jaw enables them to feed on mussel, limpets and other encrusting animals. | ||
| The carapace length is about 90-95 cm and body mass about 110-115 kg. Hawksbills are capable of living in a variety of environments, such as in brackish waters of coastal lagoons, river mouths, and tropical and temperate waters above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. | |||
| Although they are good swimmers, Hawksbills have callus-like traction scales beneath their flippers that allow them to "walk" on the ocean floor. During routine activity green and Hawksbill sea turtles dive for about 4 to 5 minutes and surface to breathe for 1 to 3 seconds. A female Hawksbill tracked at sea made up to 500 dives every 12 hours. |  | ||
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