Hawksbill sea turtles have a wide
range, found predominantly in tropical reefs of the
Indian,
Pacific, and
Atlantic Oceans. Of all the sea turtle species,
E. imbricata is the one most associated with warm, tropical waters. Two significant
subpopulations are known, in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.
Atlantic subpopulation ,
Netherlands Antilles|alt=Photo of turtle swimming with extended flippers In the Atlantic, hawksbill populations range as far west as the
Gulf of Mexico and as far southeast as the
Cape of Good Hope in
South Africa. They live off the
Brazilian coast (specifically
Bahia,
Fernando de Noronha). Along the
East Coast of the United States, hawksbill sea turtles range from
Virginia to
Florida. In Florida, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, hawksbills are found primarily on reefs in the
Florida Keys and along the southeastern Atlantic coast. Several major nesting sites are found in coastal
Palm Beach,
Broward, and
Dade Counties. Guadeloupe,
Tortuguero in
Costa Rica, and the
Yucatan. They feed in the waters off
Cuba among other places.
Indo-Pacific subpopulation ,
Mozambique In the Indian Ocean, hawksbills are a common sight along the east coast of Africa. One can find them in the seas surrounding
Madagascar and
Mozambique, and island groups such as
Primeiras e Segundas, which include the turtle protection island of
Ilha do Fogo. Hawksbills are also common along the southern Asian coast, including the
Persian Gulf, the
Red Sea, and the
Indian subcontinental and
Southeast Asian coasts. They are present across the
Malay Archipelago and northern
Australia. Their Pacific range is limited to the ocean's tropical and subtropical regions. In the west, it extends from the southwestern tips of the
Korean Peninsula and the
Japanese Archipelago south to northern
New Zealand. The
Philippines hosts several nesting sites, including the island of
Boracay and Punta Dumalag in
Davao City.
Dahican Beach in
Mati City,
Davao Oriental, hosts one of the essential hatcheries of its kind, along with
olive ridley sea turtles in the archipelagic country of the Philippines. A small group of islands in the southwest of the
archipelago is named the "
Turtle Islands" because two species of sea turtles nest there: the hawksbill and the green sea turtle. In January 2016, a juvenile was seen in
Gulf of Thailand. A 2018 article by
The Straits Times reported that around 120 hawksbill juvenile turtles recently hatched at
Pulau Satumu,
Singapore. Commonly found in Singapore waters, hawksbill turtles have returned to areas such
East Coast Park and Palau Satumu to nest. In Hawaii, hawksbills mostly nest on the "main" islands of
Oahu,
Maui,
Molokai, and
Hawaii. In
Australia, hawksbills are known to nest on
Milman Island in the
Great Barrier Reef. Hawksbill sea turtles nest as far west as
Cousine Island in the
Seychelles, where the species since 1994 is legally protected, and the population is showing some recovery. The Seychelles' inner islands and islets, such as
Aldabra, are popular feeding grounds for immature hawksbills.
Eastern Pacific subpopulation In the eastern Pacific, hawksbills are known to occur from the
Baja Peninsula in
Mexico, south along the coast to southern
Peru. Important remnant nesting and foraging sites have since been discovered in Mexico,
El Salvador,
Nicaragua, and
Ecuador, providing new research and conservation opportunities. In contrast to their traditional roles in other parts of the world, where hawksbills primarily inhabit coral reefs and rocky substrate areas, in the eastern Pacific, hawksbills tend to forage and nest principally in mangrove estuaries, such as those present in the
Bahia de Jiquilisco (El Salvador),
Gulf of Fonseca (Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras),
Estero Padre Ramos (Nicaragua), and the
Gulf of Guayaquil (Ecuador). Multi-national initiatives, such as the Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative , are currently pushing efforts to research and conserve the population, which remains poorly understood. ==Habitat and feeding==