Hawksbill Turtle -Maeve Calanog

Hawksbill sea turtle

Eretmochelys imbricata
By Maeve Calanog

Description and Ecology of Organism:

Hawksbill sea turtle, named for it’s sharp, hawk-like beak and narrow head, is one of seven of the worlds sea turtles. Hawksbill sea turtle is thought to be the most beautiful sea turtle because of it’s colorful shell. It’s odd head shape enables them to reach into cracks of coral reef to scavenge for food. Hawksbill sea turtle have a very specialized diet, mainly consisting of sponges. The sponges are toxic to most animals but hawksbill’s are immune to the toxins, allowing for limited competition. Due to their sponge diet, the flesh of these turtles is  actually harmful to humans. Consumption of their flesh can cause serious illness and possibly death. There is a trophic cascade between the Hawksbill sea turtle and coral reefs. Hawksbills play a key role for coral reefs as they manage the sponge population. Without this control sponges could overgrow coral and suffocate the reefs. These turtles are solitary nesters. They like to nest in small population and have adapted to be able to crawl over reefs and rocky areas to find the perfect secluded area to nest. They nest on average in 2 week intervals, about 4 times per season, and lay around 140 all the way up to 200 eggs per nest.

Geographic and Population Changes:

Migratory tracking of Hawksbill
over one season 

Hawksbill sea turtle live in tropical and sub-tropical regions in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans occurring 30°N to 30°S latitude. Hawksbills are highly migratory so they use a wide range of habitats within their lifetime. Due to their migration, it is hard to find their exact geographic region. As recently as 50 years ago, Hawksbill inhabited the Pacific Ocean along the West coast of the U.S. and Mexico but nesting turtles are now nonexistent in that region. In the Central Pacific Ocean, nesting Hawksbill inhabit a wide range of localities in very few numbers and foraging Hawksbill's reach almost all of the island groups of the Oceania. The remaining largest populations are in remote oceanic islands of Australia and Indian Ocean. Milman Island in Queensland, Australia is home to the largest hawksbill population in the world.  

Image of nesting regions; red star: major nesting region;
black/white dot: minor nesting region

Hawksbill turtles have declined globally by over 80% during the last century. Estimating population is also somewhat difficult due to Hawkbill's discrete nesting methods. Creating the least amount of visual evidence compared to other sea turtles, they choose very secluded beaches with little exposed sand that would leave traces of crawl marks. The Micronesia region seems grim with estimated capabilities of supporting only a few hundred nesting mothers on their collective thousands of islands. Though Hawaii is a hopeful habitat, with regulations in place to protect animals, eggs and nesting habitat. There is no known evidence that they currently nest on the islands of Hawaii, but they have history of inhabiting that region. On most island that have reported Hawksbill nesting, there's around 20-50 nesting mothers. Due to conservational measures the population of Hawksbill turtles are slowly increasing. Total population estimate is between 20,000-23,000 nesting females.

Listing Date and Type of Listing:

The Hawksbill turtle was listed on June 2nd, 1970 as endangered wherever found. The lead region  is the southeast of the U.S. The Southeast Region serves Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence:

Hawksbill is the most endangered sea turtles and one of the top endangered species. The threats that affect Hawksbill include:Wildlife trade, collection of eggs, incidental capture (by-catch), habitat loss and degradation, climate change, and pollution. Hawksbills are critically endangered due mostly to human impact. Although the turtle has international protection, the eggs are eaten around the world and they are killed for their shells. Another threat to Hawksbill that is still apparent is accidental by-catch from fishing nets. 

In addition, the pollution in many of the habitats seriously effects and reduces the already low number of Hawksbills. Hawksbill habitats that are close to harbors or ship travels are degraded due to oil and waste that the boats and humans create. The oil and tar can contaminate their food which they ingest. Though there isn't concrete evidence, researchers believe that the common disease present for all sea turtles, Fibropapillomas or "FP" for short, is caused by ocean pollution. All forms of pollution pose health problems for Hawksbill and other sea creatures.

Due to its beautiful shell, humans have harvested the shell for what is referred to as “tortoise shell” or “bekko” for the Japanese. Since ancient times, tortoise has been known as a romantic symbol. Tortoise shell’s value was comparable to rhinoceros horn and ivory and they were traded along side each other thousands of years ago. Tortoiseshell was imported for luxury markets in Europe, the United States and Asia to manufacture combs and brushes, jewelry boxes, and tortoiseshell ornaments.

The trade of hawksbill was prohibited in 1977 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In 1980, Japan, the country with string demand for tortoise shell, joined CITES with the exception of the hawksbill trade in order to continue their bekko trade. Finally in 1993, due to international pressure, Japan agreed to stop importing the hawksbill shell. However, there where stockpiles that remained, making detection of new and old stock almost impossible. Many nations push for destruction of stockpiles while other advocate to keep them until the trade becomes legalized. The shell is still in high demand in Japan as it is still a staple accessory as part of traditional wedding dresses, and the illegal market and faulty regulation enable it’s success.

Description of Recovery Plan:

The goal of the recovery plan is to delist the species and in order to do so there are 9 criteria that need to be meet and 8 actions are needed. The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service and Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put together the Recovery Plan. The 9 criteria target a stable and plentiful female population, healthy habitats, a plan for these to sustain and universal desire for restoration.

The action plan targets the main threats that effect Hawksbills. The plan has the following objectives. Through education and law enforcement, stop the harvest of Hawksbill turtles and their eggs. They plan on reducing the risk of by-catch. We need to have more information about the species by tracking population size, status and trends though long-term censuses and analyzing DNA. The U.S. needs to support conservation management of other countries that U.S. Hawksbill migrate to and protect Hawksbill habitat as best as possible. 

What can you do?

There are many things that people can do to help Hawksbill Turtle because their biggest threat is people. Be aware that tortoise shell is harvested from these endangered animals and refrain and educate other from buying it. Reducing the demand will reduce the exploitation of the animal. Pollution is also a threat to Hawksbills and many other sea creatures. If people reduce the amount plastic and non-recyclable products, there will be one less threat contributing to the demise of these sensitive creatures. And of course, you can donate money to conservation groups that work toward protecting Hawksbill Sea Turtles. 

Donate to conservation organizations like See Turtles, there are conservation trips you can go on or donate money to save baby turtles: http://www.seeturtles.org/billion-baby-turtles-donations/

Support World Wildlife Fund: https://personalize.bankofamerica.com/wwf/

Adopt a Sea Turtles: https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions/Sea-Turtle.aspx?sc=AWY1705OQ18316A01275RX&_ga=2.222886940.621009551.1520458083-1464932468.1520361898

Other resources:

Watch baby Hawksbill travel to sea! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSdVeU09Qp4

Check out these organizations:
http://www.seeturtles.org/hawksbill-turtles/

https://onekindplanet.org/animal/sea-turtle-hawksbill/

http://www.tooraretowear.org/turtleshell-products/

Works Cited:
Public Affairs Office NFESO. “Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata).” Official Web page of the U S Fish and Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/northflorida/seaturtles/turtle%20factsheets/hawksbill-sea-turtle.htm.

“Hawksbills.” SEE Turtles, www.seeturtles.org/hawksbill-turtles/.

“Amazing Facts about the Hawksbill Sea Turtle| OneKindPlanet Education.” OneKindPlanet, onekindplanet.org/animal/sea-turtle-hawksbill/.

“Eretmochelys imbricata .” Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill Turtle), www.iucnredlist.org/details/8005/0.

“Turtleshell Products.” Too Rare To Wear, www.tooraretowear.org/turtleshell-products/.

“Ocean Pollution.” SEE Turtles, www.seeturtles.org/ocean-pollution/.

Images:

“Hawksbill Sea Turtle.” National Geographic, 11 Apr. 2010, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/h/hawksbill-sea-turtle/.

Shafer, Bruce. “Hawksbill Sea Turtle Head, Cebu by Bruce Shafer.” Fine Art America, fineartamerica.com/featured/hawksbill-sea-turtle-head-cebu-bruce-shafer.html.

“Guitar inlay and sound - The Acoustic Guitar Forum.” The Acoustic Guitar Forum RSS, www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352816.

“Hawksbill turtle photo.” Arkive, www.arkive.org/hawksbill-turtle/eretmochelys-imbricata/image-G58769.html.

“Information About Sea Turtles: Hawksbill Sea Turtle – Sea Turtle Conservancy.” Sea Turtle Conservancy, conserveturtles.org/information-about-sea-turtles-hawksbill-sea-turtle/.

“Hawksbill Sea Turtles Hatching.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Aug. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZSNW4y0Eus.