Hawksbill Sea Turtle Komodo Dragon National Park

Hawksbill sea turtles are a critically endangered species that feed on sponges in coral reefs. They do an ecosystem service to the entire reef by eating the fast-growing sponges that would otherwise overtake the corals. The corals provide food, shelter, and habitat to millions of other species. Hawksbill are named for their pointy beak (mouth). They aren’t the biggest sea turtle and can only get up to 150 pounds and 3-4 feet. Though very rare, we have gotten to see maybe five in three days of diving. This is a tribute to the excellent reef health that is here.
In this video, you will see a healthy juvenile. If you watch for a few seconds, you will see her enter a cleaning station where various species of butterfly fish come to clean the critters off of her shell. Her tail is very short- boy tails are wide and long.