Early June, the environment team found a Turtle nest on the North Eastern side of the island. We have been monitoring the nest each day since. we were rewarded with a hatching of 126 baby Hawksbill turtles on Friday night at about 10pm. This is great news in many ways and confirms that the turtles are successfully still breeding in our waters.

We will retain some for the conversation programme in ensuring that some of them will survive, the rest are released to fend for themselves as mother nature expects.

Treasure’s Hawks Bill Turtle conservation Programme

With our ongoing Hawks Bill Turtle conservation programme we would like to share with you some information about these precious creatures, the more we can educate the more we can preserve.

The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered sea turtle

It takes decades for sea turtles to reach sexual maturity. After mating at sea, adult female sea turtles return to land to nest at night. Different species of sea turtles exhibit various levels of philopatry. In the extreme case, females return to the beach where they hatched. This can take place every two to four years in maturity. They make from one to eight nests per season.

The mature nesting female hauls herself onto the beach, nearly always at night, and finds suitable sand on which to create a nest. Using her hind flippers, she digs a circular hole 40 to 50 centimetres (16 to 20 in) deep. After the hole is dug, the female then starts filling the nest with a clutch of soft-shelled eggs one by one until she has deposited around 50 to 200 eggs, depending on the species. Some species have been reported to lay 250 eggs, such as the hawksbill. After laying, she re-fills the nest with sand, re-sculpting and smoothing the surface until it is relatively undetectable visually. The whole process takes thirty to sixty minutes. She then returns to the ocean, leaving the eggs untended.

The hatchling’s gender depends on the sand temperature. Lighter sands maintain higher temperatures, which decreases incubation time and results in more female hatchlings.

Incubation takes about two months. The eggs in one nest hatch together over a very short period of time. When ready, hatchlings tear their shells apart with their snout and dig through the sand. Again, this usually takes place at night, when predators such as seagulls cannot fly. Once they reach the surface, they instinctively head towards the sea.

At Treasure Island Resort Fiji, their ongoing conservation programme for the Hawks Bill Turtles will help in the preservation of these wonderful creatures. Guests when staying at Treasure will be able to see these Turtles in the Turtle enclosure. The tag and release of the Turtles often happens around the New Year period. Something not to be missed.

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