The Swim To Recovery, Macie Matthews

The Swim To Recovery
By: Macie Matthews

My favorite memory of marine wildlife would be when my family took a trip out to Maui. During our
 trip we decided to go snorkeling. One turtle in particular bonded with my younger brother and proceeded to head-butt him in the stomach continuously the remainder of the time in the water. 

However, with the declination of the species, my family may never be able to experience such an event ever again, nor will anybody else.

On December 15, 1995 the Fish and Wildlife Services created a plan to help recover the lost populations of this particular creature. The Eretmochelys imbricata, more commonly known as the Hawksbill Sea Turtle are usually found in the U.S, Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Placed on the endangered list in 1993, this species' recovery plan is long at length and complex in design. This plan contains 41 actions in a range of priorities listed through the sites below:

1-16: https://www.flickr.com/photos/145948049@N04/shares/S9VE64
17-40: https://www.flickr.com/photos/145948049@N04/shares/HrygE6
41: https://www.flickr.com/photos/145948049@N04/shares/NACcm9

According to Fish and Wildlife Services, "Hawksbills are recognized by their relatively small size (carapace length less than 95 cm), narrow head with tapering "beak," thick, overlapping shell scutes, and strongly serrated posterior margin of the carapace." Hawksbill hatchlings are of uniform color however as they mature, they tend to vary in hues; ranging from the dark browns and blacks to the light yellows. Because these sea turtles are so highly migratory, it is hard to complete define their "geographic scope"; but are usually documented within the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, reaching some other adjacent waters as well. According to WWF Global, "Hawksbills declined globally by over 80% during the last century...There are difficulties in accurately assessing population size, but a recent estimate of adult nesting females of 8,000+ has been made. There are only 5 populations worldwide with more than 1,000 females nesting annually." There are many threats that continue to harm marine ecosystems. However, there are 8 main threats to the history of the Hawksbill sea turtles. 

Within the last 100 years, millions of hawksbill turtles have been captured and killed for their shells in the markets of Europe, the United States and Asia. Although the market has died down the past couple of years, it continues to damage the populations and ecosystem, "Conservatively estimating that 30% of the turtles taken for the trade were nesting females, nearly 400,000 adult female Hawksbills were killed for the Japanese market in those years, a time frame that approximates a single Hawksbill generation. (The Red List)" Another big detriment to the distribution of these turtles is egg collection. Egg collection is a part of many coastal traditions. People collect the eggs off the beach to fee their communities, however this affects the diminishing size of the organism. Other big causes of the deterioration include slaughter for meat, destruction of nesting habitats, destruction of foraging habitats, hybridization with other species, entanglement and ingestion of pollutants, and oil pollution.


Banjo, an adult hawksbill sea turtle was released on July 22, 2013 with a satellite transmitter after nesting on Lover's Beach, Nevis. As of November 29, 2016, Banjo was recorded to be in the North Atlantic Ocean, Southwest of the Isla Palominos. According to Sea Turtle Conservancy, "since most research conducted on marine turtles has been carried out on nesting beaches and well over 90% of a sea turtle’s life is spent in the water — feeding, mating, migrating and doing whatever else a sea turtle does when no one is watching, we are missing important information that can help us better protect sea turtles. In particular, to adequately protect sea turtles in all their habitats, we must learn 

more about their migratory patterns, their behavior at sea, where their marine habitats are located, how the turtles use these different habitats, and the migration routes turtles travel between habitats...The satellite transmitter attached to a turtle is controlled by a micro-processor that controls when the transmitter sends information to the satellites. The satellites are operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (2) and have special instruments that are designed to listen for transmitters like those we place on turtles and to determine where those transmitters are located. The data received from the turtle’s transmitter comes in the form of digital codes, which must be deciphered. The satellites relay the transmitter data to base stations on Earth. The base stations then relays the data directly to researchers by e-mail." 

As a growing society we need to understand that this species as well as many others will continue to die off if we do not push for their salvation and conservation. We need to make sure that they do indeed make a full recovery and we are not just trying to "save" the turtles but reestablish their population so that it can survive and reproduce without our interference. There are many ways we can each help push towards reestablishing this species whether it being small like reducing the amount of plastic or harmful chemicals we use to something bigger like donating to a cause such as GoodShop.com or STC (1) or "adopting" a turtle. Each pave the way to helping researchers continue to collect data on how we can all help this organism come back from the depths and into the light.

1. http://assets.worldwildlife.org/photos/163/images/carousel_small/SCR_290360hawskbill-why-matter-LG.jpg?1345565532

2.http://www.clker.com/cliparts/2/6/9/8/11949846371055890278sub_subacqueo_architetto_01.svg.hi.png

3. "Get Involved: Simple Actions You Can Take - Sea Turtle Conservancy." Sea Turtle Conservancy. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

4. "Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) :: NOAA Fisheries." NOAA Fisheries. N.p., n.d. Web. 29      Nov. 2016.

5. http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/38/3886/GHKJF00Z/posters/beverly-joubert-eggs-in-the-nest-of-a-hawksbill-turtle.jpg

6.Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife. "Species and Populations with Recovery Plans." Species and Populations with Recovery Plans. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

7."Support the." Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill Turtle). N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Nov. 2016.

8."Trackingmap - Sea Turtle Conservancy." Sea Turtle Conservancy. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
WWF. "Hawksbill Turtle." WWF. World Wide Fund, 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.