Thursday, February 11, 2016

Meet the critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle

 Saving the Hawksbill Turtle


Hi! This is Animalgirl again here to show you the Hawksbill turtle. I love these turtles. They need our help, so they won't disappear forever.

It is called a Hawksbill turtles because it's beak is like a hawk's. Do you know what else?

  • Their favorite food is sponges, so eating the sponges helps protect the reef.
  • Their shell is smooth and flat. It's streamlined so the water flows across their shell making it easier for them to swim.
  • The front flippers power the swim and the back ones are short for steering.
  • Like other turtles, Hawksbills need to come up for air.
  • They are reef turtles because the reef feeds and shelters them from tiger sharks.
  • The predator of the hawksbill is the Tiger shark. 
  • To defend itself, the Hawksbill leans on its side so the shark bites its shell and not it. 


These amazing turtles are super endangered because fishermen catch them in their nets and the turtles drown when they can't get air to breathe. This is called bycatch. It is also because of their beautiful orange, green, brown, or yellow shells. People poach them to use their tortoise shells for jewelry and furniture. Their meat is also used for soup. 

Some people think this is cool, but I think it's cruel.



Worldwildlife.org

Sea Turtle Conservancy 

Note: All photos courtesy of Freeimages.com

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this, Animal Girl. I knew dolphins drowned sometimes in fishermen's nets, but I didn't know about these turtles. I will follow the link you posted.

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    1. Thanks Kate. If you know any other endangered species let me know. Animalgirl!

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  2. Great information, Animal girl. Thanks for sharing this fascinating animal. What your doing is very important and I admire you for it. Keep up the good work!

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  3. I agree Animalgirl...it's cruel what they do to them! I had no idea they ate sea sponges, that's pretty cool. I'm looking forward to your next post. I think we are all learning from you...THANK YOU! (Amy B)

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  4. Animalgirl,such a great job you are doing,educating others . lots of kids sit by and do nothing but complain about the way things are. You are an inspiration! Thank you for your great information,I'll be following your blog from now on.keep up your great work!

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  5. Animalgirl,such a great job you are doing,educating others . lots of kids sit by and do nothing but complain about the way things are. You are an inspiration! Thank you for your great information,I'll be following your blog from now on.keep up your great work!

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  6. I love turtles! Great job finding out so much about the Hawksbill. I'd love to see one in the wild some time. We should go snorkeling! For a list of endangered species (and some labelled "critically endangered" you might visit the World Wildlife Fund website. The first animal listed is the Amur Leopard (beautiful and elusive). Check it out: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinction_status

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