Sea Turtles

Hawksbill turtle

As the hawksbill’s name suggests, they are recognizable by their distinctive, hawk-like, curved beaks. These critically endangered animals can grow up to a meter long, and thanks to their beautifully patterned amber shells, are the primary source of tortoiseshell material, traditionally used to make items such as ornaments and combs. The majority of this tortoiseshell is harvested in the Caribbean, which makes protecting these animals in Panama of even greater significance.

The hawksbill turtle can be found resting in caves and rocky ledges around tropical coral reefs - unlike the other large sea turtles, which spend their entire lives in the open ocean.

Leatherback Turtle

This enormous turtle is the world’s deepest known diver, reaching incredible depths of up to 1,280 meters.  While the turtle grows to between one and two meters in length, its massive flippers can grow to well over 2.5 meters, and the turtles weigh between 250 and 700 kilograms. The leatherback’s most unique feature is its lack of shell, which is replaced by the tough, oily skin which gives it its name.

While their size gives them few natural predators, pollution is a serious threat. Jellyfish form a large part of their diet, and they can mistake discarded plastic bags for jellyfish, which often results in death.

Green Turtles

These large turtles spend their entire lives at sea and are expert divers. The less active they are, the less oxygen they need, which means they can sleep underwater for several hours at a time. Conversely, a turtle trapped in a fishing net will struggle and drown in a short period of time. Now that these creatures have been protected, this is one of the main causes of premature death. However, the first few minutes of the turtles’ lives are easily the most dangerous, as a host of predators wait to pick off the defenseless hatchlings. The lucky survivors can expect to live up to eighty years.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

The adults weigh over 360kg and can live to over 200 years old, but life begins as a tiny hatchling on the beaches of Bocas del Toro

Loggerhead sea turtles are protected internationally, due to them coming close to extinction as a result of intensive hunting. They do not return to land once hatched, other than to nest, and can remain under water for up to seven hours at a time.  This is partly what makes sighting them on the beaches of Bocas del Toro such a magical experience – either when the huge females drag themselves across the sand to lay their eggs on the same beaches where they themselves were hatched, or when the tiny hatchlings emerge and crawl into the sea for the first time.