Hawksbill Sea Turtle

Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA

Hawksbill turtles use their narrow pointed beaks to extract sponges and soft corals from reef crevices, controlling sponge populations that would otherwise overgrow hard coral. They are critically endangered and slow to mature, taking up to 30 years to reach reproductive age, making each individual encountered significant for population recovery. Aldabra's protected lagoon provides some of the most important hawksbill foraging habitat remaining in the western Indian Ocean.