Hawksbill

the HAWKSBILL

Eretmochelys imbricata

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KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Testudines
SUBORDER: Cryptodira
FAMILY: Cheloniidae
GENUS: Eretmochelys
SPECIES: imbricata
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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Ever hear of tortoise-shell glasses? Ever owned a pair of real, authentic, ones? If you did, there's a good chance the rims came from the shell of a hawksbill sea turtle. Now, of course, this would be illegal in the USA.
This turtle is somewhat smallish, its carapace (top shell) being 91 cm (36 in.) in length at the most. It weighs only about 80 kg (which is 125 lbs). The Eretmochelys imbricata has its common name, hawksbill, derived from the rather bird-like "beak" of its nose. This is used to drag lunch from crevices in a coral reef.

NESTING:
The hawksbill female usually nest every three years, although this number can flucuate from 2 to maybe 6 or 7 or more. Only about 3 different clutches (nests) are laid each season, 15 days apart. It takes about 60 days for a hawksbill to hatch, in groups of 160, optimally, although this number is often considerable lower.

FEEDING:
An Eretmochelys imbricita's version of cheese pizza is generally sponges, anemones, squid, or shrimp. It would seem as though shrimp fishermen are competing with the turtles for prey, so they (the humans) kill them (the turtles). It is not a good world.

HABITAT:
The tropics are where it's at, at least for hawksbill. Typical haunts are rocky areas, lagoons, and coastal reefs in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Ocean. Although a few of these beautiful animals are found in the USA, they breed almost entirely in the Caribbean.

MAJOR THREATS:
Habitat loss, shrimp trawling, oil spills, the hawksbill is threatened by all the "regular" stuff that shouldn't be regular. As noted above, the art of jewelry-making using shells is probably the largest threat. And in addition, many people have found entire hawksbill shells in their attics. This is illegal to have, turn it in to your local conservation department!

Note: I recently found a list of the World Wildlife Fund's Top 10 endangered species [from 1994]. Guess what one of them was?
You guessed it. Eretmochelys imbricata, the one and only hawksbill sea turtle.

I have also found out that the hawksbill is sometimes referred to as the scaly turtle. {I think . . .}

It makes a person wonder, this living being is so wonderful, why are we killing it?
That's what I'm asking you.
WHY DO HUMAN BEINGS KILL TURTLE BEINGS??????

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