Endangered Species: Hawksbill Turtle

 *Note: I was not able to upload any pictures, I'm not sure why, I tried every possible way but nothing was working*

Hawksbill Turtle

The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. Hawksbills are named for their narrow, pointed beak. They also have a distinctive pattern of overlapping scales on their shells that form a serrated-look on the edges. There colored and patterned shells make them highly-valuable and commonly sold as "tortoiseshell" in markets. They can way anywhere from 90-150 pounds and can grow from 30-35 inches. These turtles globally have declined 80% during the last century. There are difficulties in accurately assessing population size, but a recent estimate of adult nesting females of 8,000+ has been made. There are only 5 populations worldwide with more than 1,000 females nesting annually.

Habitat/Range

Hawksbills are found mainly throughout the world's tropical oceans, predominantly in coral reefs. 

Role in the Ecosystem

Hawksbills help maintain the health of coral reefs. As they remove prey such as sponges from the reef's surface, they provide better access for reef fish to feed.   

Cause of Decline

Like other sea turtles, hawksbills are threatened by the loss of nesting and feeding habitats, excessive egg collection, fishery-related mortality, pollution, and coastal development. However, they are most threatened by wildlife trade. There is still a disturbingly large amount of illegal trade in hawksbill shells and products. They are much sought after throughout the tropics for their beautiful brown and yellow carapace plates that are manufactured into tortoiseshell items for jewelry and ornaments. In recent decades, eastern Asia has provided an eager market for tortoiseshell.

Why Should We Care?

Hawksbill Turtles have a huge cultural significance and tourism value.  For example, for local residents in the Coral Triangle, the flow of visitors who come to admire turtles is a vital source of income. Without these turtles, local residents will lose their source of income.

Conservation Efforts

WWF aims to reduce turtle bycatch by working with fisheries to switch to more turtle-friendly fishing hooks ("circle" hooks) and advocates for the use of special turtle excluder devices in nets. WWF also works  around  the  world  to  establish  marine protected  areas (MPA)  to  ensure sea turtles have a safe place to nest, feed and migrate freely.  They encourage governments to strengthen legislation and provide funding for sea turtle protection. 

How Geography/Tools Can Help

Satellite telemetry allows researchers to track sea turtles as they swim from place to place. These satellite tags do not harm the turtles in any way and are designed to eventually fall off. The data will tell us where important feeding areas are, help us understand migration patterns, and anticipate where turtles may come in contact with fisheries and their gear.

What can we do?

1. Don't eat wild caught fish 
2. Don't buy anything made of turtle shells
3. Don't realease balloons into the sky
1. "What comes up must come down" 
4. Decrease light pollution
5. Clean beaches