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Any distraction from their dash to the water is an opportunity for predators to pick up an easy meal. Beachfront lighting causes hatchlings to mistake the artificial light for their true destination-the moonlit sea. Their nesting habitat is threatened by degradation from coastal development and beach armoring. As coral reef habitats continue to decline, the hawksbill’s primary source of food is reduced, putting the sea turtles at greater and greater risk. Marine pollution and debris, watercraft strikes, and incidental take from commercial fishing operations also contribute to human-related deaths. In addition hawksbills are harvested for their meat. The shell is used to make jewelry, hair decorations, and other ornaments, and even though international trade of the hawksbill is prohibited, it continues in much of the world. The hawksbill’s beautiful, translucent shell is unfortunately one of its greatest liabilities. Hawksbill sea turtles are internationally listed as critically endangered, and the reptile has been federally listed as an endangered species since 1970.
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The normal lifespan of hawksbill turtles is thought to be about 30 to 50 years. As a result, actual age at sexual maturity is not known. However, the time required to reach 14 inches is unknown and growth rates vary geographically. They are believed to begin breeding about 25 to 35 years later. Several Yucatán beaches account for 25 to 30 percent of all hawksbill nesting in the Caribbean.īy the time they reach 14 inches (35 centimeters) in length, hawksbills tend to move onto reef habitat. The exceptions are the Gulf and Caribbean coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, where hawksbills nest on long expanses of beach in densities of 20 to 30 nests a kilometer. In contrast to all other sea turtle species, hawksbills usually nest in low densities on scattered small beaches. Hatchlings use the bright, open view of the night sky over the water to find their way to the sea. After the incubation period, two-inch (five-centimeter) hatchlings emerge as a group. Caribbean, a clutch size is about 140 eggs. Hawksbills nest at night, laying three to six clutches a season at two week intervals. The nesting season in most locations occurs sometime between April and November. Every two to three years, females return to nest on the very same beaches where they themselves hatched, referred to as natal beaches. Send us feedback.Like other sea turtles, hawksbill turtles are solitary for most of their lives they meet only to mate. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hawksbill turtle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. National Geographic, 16 June 2018 Open to people only from September to May, the island is the summer nesting site for migratory birds flying thousands of miles from the west coast of Africa and hawksbill turtles who lay their eggs on the unruffled sand. 2020 Previous studies on hawksbill turtles already have helped Omani and Emirati officials begin rethinking boundaries of some marine protected areas. 2021 Along the way, meet locals like the Hawaiian hawksbill turtle and the wild nēnē (goose), and listen to the dawn chorus. Recent Examples on the Web Part of the conservation effort focuses on the endangered green and hawksbill turtle species that are native to the area.