The Hawksbill Turtle is one of the most common species of turtle found within Thai Waters. And along with its close relative the Green Turtle predate the dinosaurs and are one evolutions most successful species. Today, unfortunately these beautiful creatures are becoming increasingly endangered due to harmful fishing practices and destruction of nesting sites.
Hawksbill Turtles are easily identifiable with their beak like mouth, and the jagged edge around their shells. The shells are often covered with algae and barnacles, as their front flippers are not long enough to allow them to clean their shells. The Hawksbill Turtle, or Eretmochelys imbricata to give them their scientific name are part of a group of seven distinct marine turtle species, of which only 5 can be found in tropical waters. The Hawksbill Turtle is relatively small turtle with large adults rarely growing over 70cm in length.

During the day Hawksbill Turtles will travel around the reef at a slow pace, moving from feeding ground to feeding ground. Turtles are carnivores, preying on jellyfish, sponges, tunicates, crabs, squid and even some fish. In Thai waters, these turtles seem to favor bubble coral and jellyfish as their primary food source. The mating and reproduction of turtles is one of the most amazing processes within the animal kingdom. During mating season large numbers of male turtles will try and mate with the female, and it is not uncommon to see 4 to 5 males try and mouth a single female, especially around Sipadan Island in Malaysia. When the female turtle is ready to lay her eggs, she begins an unbelievable journey back to the exact location of her birth, even is the location is several thousand kilometers away, and is a place she was only once in her life.

Once at this location, the turtle will wait until the highest tide to come ashore and lay her eggs, so to avoid her nest being washed away by high water. The female turtle will use her front flippers to excavate a large hole where she will deposit between 50-150 eggs, before recovering the hole with sand. This will be the last time the female will have contact with her young. The female turtle will repeat this process three or four times during the mating season. The survival rate for newly hatched turtles is very low, only around 1% will survive and become adults.

As soon as the hatchlings leave the nest, sea birds await to pick them off, those lucky enough to make it to the sea will have to avoid sharks, barracudas, groupers and just about every other large fish who is feeling hungry. With the number of Hawksbill Turtles in the Andaman Sea thought to be less than 100 individuals, Thailand has started to take action to save these prehistoric creatures. Beaches where turtles are known to lay their eggs have become protected against poachers, and many of Thailand’s Marine National Parks have started schemes where they remove the laid eggs and hatch them in incubators, once hatched they raise the young turtles to a certain size in large saltwater tanks, before releasing them into the sea, thus increasing their survival rates. While Hawksbill Turtles are one of every divers favorite animals, divers need to be aware of the negative impact they can have on these animals.

Please follow these guidelines when encountering a turtle.

• Approach turtles slowly, so not to scare them away.
• Never corner a turtle.
• Never swim directly above a turtles, in case they try and swim to the surface for air.
• Never touch, hang, or ride on a turtle.
• If you see any plastic in the water, please remove it, as turtles will mistake it for a jellyfish and it.
• Never wake a sleeping turtle; doing so can cause heart failure due to the surprise.

Where Can I see them?

• Koh Phi Phi Island
• Similan Islands
• Racha Yai
• Racha Noi
• Sipadan Island