Turtles

The Hawksbill Sea Turtle's elongated, tapered head ends in a beak-like mouth - from which its common name is derived.

Hawksbill turtles in the Indian Ocean rely on deep, remote habitats

Recent studies have employed sophisticated satellite tracking technology to follow Hawksbill turtles to their most frequented feeding grounds in the Indian Ocean. These advancements have allowed researchers to gain unprecedented insights into the turtles' precise movements and behaviours at depths previously unobserved.

Fossil plants turn out to be turtle hatchlings

In a surprising twist of paleontological detective work, two fossils categorised as ancient plants turned out to be the fossilised remnants of baby turtles. 

This revelation is set to redefine the legacy of specimens collected by Colombian priest Padre Gustavo Huertas.

Mistaken Identity: Plant or Turtle?

Initially classified as a fossil plant called Sphenophyllum colombianum, the two specimens were discovered by Huertas near a town called Villa de Levya, in Colombia, where he collected rocks and fossils in the 1950s to 1970s.

Pemuteran Sea Turtle Hatchery

Juvenile sea turtles feeding on small fish
Juvenile sea turtles feeding on small fish

A sea turtle hatchery in Pemuteran, Indonesia, established by Reef Seen Divers’ Resort founder, Chris Brown, has provided a sanctuary for endangered baby turtles to hatch and grow large enough to be released into the sea with better chances of survival. Claudia Weber-Gebert has the story.

Image shows three turtles on a sandy mound surrounded by water, in a natural environment
A rare turtle species is further threatened by Brazil's growing hydroelectric power industry.

Hydroelectric plants put turtle habitats at risk

In a recent study, scientists in Brazil are sounding the alarm for the Williams' side-necked turtle (Phrynops williamsi), a rare species found only in Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest and neighboring Pampa grasslands. The growing hydroelectric power industry in the country poses a grave threat to these turtles, already classified as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Sea turtle hatchlings
Sea turtle hatchlings

US Navy safeguards nesting sites of sea turtles at Virginia's beaches

Naturalized dunes line the shoreline, serving as a defense against storm surges and preserving vital wildlife habitats. This beach is a prime nesting spot for sea turtles, being where loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley and green sea turtles lay their eggs from mid-May through August.

Executive Officer of NAS Oceana Captain Josh Appezzato and his team of sea turtle patrollers diligently search the beach at sunrise daily.

Newly hatched loggerhead sea turtles
Newly hatched loggerhead sea turtles

Record number of Loggerhead Turtle Nests in Florida

Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is a non-profit education and ocean conservation facility located on the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach County, Florida.

The research team at LMC monitors a 9,5-mile stretch of beach from Juno Beach up to Jupiter Island between March and October. Juno Beach is one of the world's most densely nested sea turtle beaches in the world!

As of the end of July, the research team documented record-breaking nesting numbers, now totalling 22,469 nests to date this season on local beaches.

An adult green turtle from the Karpaz nesting beach
An adult green turtle from the Karpaz nesting beach

Egyptian lagoon is preferred foraging ground for Cyprus' green turtles

Researchers have discovered that Lake Bardawil in Egypt is the preferred foraging spot for female turtles that lay eggs at key rookeries in Cyprus.

Situated at the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula, Lake Bardawil is a large, shallow lagoon with an artificial opening that connects to the sea. Initially created as a fishery in the 1950s, it became an ideal seagrass habitat for adult green turtles.

Turtle on beach
Turtle on beach

Florida's turtles are now mostly born female

Rising temperatures are making it too hot for Florida’s turtles to enter the dating scene—literally.

The recent heat waves have raised the temperature of the sand on some beaches so much that nearly all turtles born in the last four summers have been female.

A turtle's gender depends on the temperature of the developing eggs, and this is dependent on the temperature of the sand in which the eggs are buried.

Merlin's Sentience: The Story of a Sea Turtle

Merlin, the sea turtle, illustration by Ila France Porcher
Merlin, the sea turtle. Illustration by Ila France Porcher

Sighting a sea turtle on a dive is always a pleasure. However, few know much about what they are like as animals. Being reptiles, it is assumed that they are essentially on automatic—emotionless and thoughtless. But we changed our minds about that when Merlin came. Ila France Porcher relays the tale of rehabilitating a sick sea turtle in Tahiti, at a time when turtles were often hunted for food.