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Hawksbill turtle

Eretmochelys imbricata

Photo by lori.tas
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

A young hawksbill turtle (20-25 years old). Possibly a female. E. imbricata is easily distinguished from other sea turtles by its sharp, curving beak with prominent tomium, and the saw-like appearance of its shell margins. Hawksbill shells slightly change colors, depending on water temperature. While this turtle lives part of its life in the open ocean, it spends more time in shallow lagoons and coral reefs.

Habitat:

Coral sea lagoon.

Notes:

E. imbricata is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in its genus.

The last two photos show it taking a breath and diving back under water.

Reference Links:

Hawksbill sea turtle

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)
lori.tas
Yes, Daniele. I do know about that mission, even joined it. Don't know why I haven't added it to spottings (will edit it in). I blame week on a tropical island for the lapse of memory. ; ) So many turtles at Lady Elliot. Saw them every day. Wait until I get the giant mantas spotting up!
DanielePralong
I'm certainly enjoying the whole series Lori! Only once after years of living in Queensland we finally made it north and went snorkelling at the Agincourt reef off Port Douglas. I'll never forget the experience. My husband saw turtles but I didn't :-( Did you know about the Global Coral Reef Monitoring mission? http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/6529308
lori.tas
Thanks, Joshua. Both Hawksbill and Green turtles use Lady Elliot Island to lay their eggs. Thus, any young that survive return there in 20-30 years time. I saw two Hawksbills my first day in the water. It's such a fantastic lagoon for them to graze in.
Josh Asel
Congratulations on this amazing Critically Endangered species spotting!
lori.tas
Thanks, Daniele. The turtles were very used to snorkelers. Which helped a lot. If you click on the Lady Elliot Island 'tag', most of the images will be from my recent trip (or, just click on my avatar). Including a Green turtle. I'm still adding images, so keep an eye out.
lori.tas
We thought about it a bit, Shanna - it's not cheap - but neither is taking the boats out from the mainland. So, we decided this would be our big reef-only trip. Amazing little island.
ShannaB
I would love to go to Lady Elliott Island!!!!

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Photographed
PublishedSeptember 29, 2013

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