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Project Noah Nature School
Eretmochelys imbricata bissa
A rare spotting of this critically endangered turtle. It is illegal to import or export turtle products, or to kill, capture, or harass hawksbill sea turtles. Hawksbill turtles have been exploited for thousands of years as the sole source of commercial tortoiseshell. As an example of the extent of the trade, prior to ending the import of the shells in 1994, the Japanese hawksbill shell trade was around 30,000 kg (66,000 lb) of raw shells per year.
Spotted on May 25, 2014
Submitted on Mar 10, 2015
2 Comments
Yeah, I guess we were just in the right place at the right time. We were snorkeling and he was probably about 30 ft deep, so lucky again that the water was somewhat clear. Probably, the only one we'll see in the wild.
Amazing find, I took over 200 individual photos of different sea turtles during the 5 years I lived on Oahu... but they were all Green Sea Turtles. Never was fortunate enough to see the elusive Hawksbill!