Sharjah's Sir Bunair Island, a tropical habitat for hawksbill sea turtles, is one of 376 rare nesting places of these wonderful creatures. Sharjah Environment Agency and Natural Research (SEANR), after recording the turtles' hatching cycle, said that the endangered species of turtles — along with their green counterparts – have begun the breeding season. Hawksbill sea turtles are considered by many to be the most beautiful sea turtles because of their colourful shells and are found in tropical waters around the world. These endangered species were found hatching young ones along the coast of Sir Bunair Island, the agency said. The chairperson of the Environment and Natural Reserves in Sharjah, Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, said that the agency representatives were monitoring the young turtles included in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an endangered species. The Sharjah agency has been constantly watching them, as their habitat is within walking distance of the southern coast of the protected island of Sir Bunair. It has witnessed the movement of both green and hawksbill turtles on the beach, she said. This underlines the importance of Sir Bunair Island, which is one of the most important protected areas in Sharjah due to the diversity of the ecosystems and the presence of rare marine animals. She added that the island of Sir Bunair was declared a protected area in 2000, under the directives of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, under the Emiri Decree No. 25, and kept under the supervision of the Environment and Natural Reserves Agency. She said that the nesting season of the turtles start at the beginning of March and lasts until June. Sea turtles move between feeding grounds and nesting places several hundred, perhaps several thousands of kilometres whilst migrating. They help in the distribution of fertilisers for the necessary growth of weeds and sea grasses. They have chosen the shores of Sir Bunair due to the presence of biodiversity in the natural habitat. The hawksbill sea turtle (eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus Eretmochelys. The hawksbill's appearance is similar to that of other marine turtles. It has a generally flattened body shape, a protective carapace, and flipper-like arms adapted for swimming in the open ocean. They are easily distinguished from other sea turtles by their sharp, curving beaks with prominent tomium, and the saw-like appearance of their shell margins. Hawksbill shells slightly change colours, depending on water temperature. While this turtle lives part of its life in the open ocean, it spends more time in shallow lagoons and coral reefs. Human fishing practices threaten the population with extinction and so, the World Conservation Union classified the hawksbill as critically endangered. Adult hawksbill sea turtles have been known to grow up to 1m in length, weighing around 80kg on average. The heaviest hawksbill ever captured was measured to be 127kg,
In the Indian Ocean, hawksbills are a common sight along the east coast of Africa, including the seas surrounding Madagascar and nearby island groups, and all along the southern Asian coast, including the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the coasts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
Source: The Gulf Today