Hawksbill Turtle Nesting

Hi Sea Turtle lovers,

We have no nests at the Sea Turtle Conservation Project Mano Juan, Saona right now and that is because it is not breeding season.

I was looking up on when the actual breeding season is for the Hawksbill Sea Turtle and found that all the sources say something different. This might mean that the breeding season for these creatures depends on their location.

We see our sea turtles arriving to nest in May and lately we have seen that the breeding season is becoming longer with the last females coming to nest as late as December.

A map of Saona Island and where the nests are situated.

The female Hawksbill Sea Turtle comes to lay eggs around 4 times in a season. She will emerge from the water and slowly crawl on the beach to find a perfect spot for her precious eggs. Once a suited spot is found she will dig a hole in the sand using her flippers. The nest is usually in the shape of a tear drop and is slightly tilted.

Female Hawksbill Sea Turtle in the process of laying her eggs.

Eggs come out in 2's or 3's. She will typically lay around 120 eggs. These eggs are not hard like chicken eggs but are flexible so they do not break when they fall onto the sand. Once all the eggs are in the nest she will cover the eggs with sand using her rear flippers. When she feels the nest is covered she will crawl back to the ocean never to tend to her eggs again.

Egg-laying

The eggs will hatch after about 60 days, depending on the temperature the babies might emerge later or earlier. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the baby with temperatures warmer than 29.2 degrees Celsius producing females and colder producing males.

Sea Turtle nest in the sand.

The baby sea turtle emerges from its egg by using an "egg-tooth" called the "caruncle". They will loose this "tooth" shortly after they have emerged.

And so the life of a baby sea turtle begins.

Baby Sea Turtles making the dangerous journey to the ocean.

The Sea Turtle Conservation Project on Mano Juan, Saona keeps track of all the nests using a GPS. If a nest is situated in a high risk zone where it might get stepped on or stolen by poachers the Sea Turtle Conservation Project will step in and carefully remove the nest. The eggs are then incubated into cooler boxes and taken to the project until they hatch.

Yolanda and Negro of the Sea Turtle Conservation Project Mano Juan, Saona Island carefully taking out a nest that was at  risk of being discovered by poachers.

Negro and the local kids at the Sea Turtle Conservation Project Mano Juan, Saona Island with a newly hatched nest.

Baby Sea Turtles released after hatching at the project.

Next up: The First Few Days of a Baby Hawksbill Sea Turtle!!!