Only about 1 in 1,000 hawksbill turtles will survive to adulthood because they must scramble to the ocean, directly after hatching, while avoiding predators.
After about 60 days, newborn hawksbill turtles hatch out of their eggs and make a perilous dash for the water where they will mature. This journey to the water is the most dangerous time of a hawksbill turtle’s life.
Although this scramble only lasts a few minutes, countless hatchlings are preyed on by flocks of gulls and large crabs.
Probably less than one out of 1,000 eggs will survive and reach adulthood.
Sources: (Bjorndal, 1999; Edelman, 2004; Ernst, Lovich, Barbour, 1994; Pilcher)
Image: USAID Biodiversity & Forestry
