Sometimes when Hawksbill sea turtles hatch their yolks are still attached to their stomachs. These hatchlings have a hard time crawling to the water and sometimes they end up on their backs and we have to flip them over.
Today I helped guard 24 endangered Hawksbill hatchlings from crabs and birds as they made their way from the nest to the ocean. They´re only four centimeters long at this point in their life so it´s quite a journey.
One of the reasons why these turtles are threatened is because climate change has increased the amount that the tide comes in on these beaches here in Ecuador by several feet. The sea turtles are laying the eggs too close to the water’s edge and the nests laid on these beaches are more likely to be drowned by the sea. A few feet on a beach might not seem like a big deal but if you’re a sea turtle it’s life or death.
