Around two months ago, a mama Hawksbill turtle was wandering around the shores of Singapore in the middle of the night, looking for a place to lay her eggs.
After a bit of searching, she picked a cosy, sandy spot in Tanjong Beach and prepared to make a nest that would shelter her beloved eggs while she was gone.
Many days and nights passed and finally, two months later, the first few cracks started to appear.
And not long after, 100 little baby Hawksbill turtles emerged from their eggs and stepped into the world for the very first time.
The beauty of life.
100 Hawksbill Turtles Hatched on Sentosa Island
On 3 September 2019, about 100 critically endangered Hawksbill turtles entered the world on Sentosa’s Tanjong Beach, at around 10:00 p.m.
They were then released into the sea on Wednesday, 4 September 2019 at 7:00 a.m. The Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) carried out a few checks and measurements on the turtles before releasing them.
SDC said that the Hawksbill nest had been spotted at Tanjong Beach on 14 July 2019.
Upon spotting the nest, they set up a protective barrier around the nest, to allow the mother turtle to incubate the eggs easily, without being disturbed by predators, like monitor lizards and crabs (and maybe humans, too).
It took 51 days for the eggs to hatch.
Some members of the public were lucky enough to be present at the beach to watch the little hatchlings crawl around in the sand before making their way to the sea.
I can’t get over how adorable this is.
5th Hawksbill Eggs Hatching At Sentosa Since 1996
This is the fifth time since 1996 that Hawksbill turtles have hatched in Sentosa. Previous turtle hatchings were recorded in 2010, January 2018 and September 2018 at Tanjong Beach.
In August this year, 44 Hawksbill turtles also hatched in Sisters’ Islands – which is another popular location in Singapore that mother turtles often go to.
According to TODAYonline, there were a total of 62 turtle nest-related sightings here in Singapore last year.
Singapore’s very first turtle hatchery is located in the smaller of the Sisters’ Islands. It’s out of bounds to the public and was launched in September last year within the wider Sisters’ Islands Marine Park.
If You Ever Spot a Hawksbill Turtle…
There are a few things that you should and shouldn’t do if you ever come across a Hawksbill turtle, according to NParks.
- Call NParks at 1800-4717300.
- Keep your distance from the turtle and the eggs. Touching the turtle may scare or provoke it. Handling the eggs may damage them, or introduce bacteria into the nest.
- Talk softly and stay out of sight. Do not shine lights at the turtle or use flash photography. Light and noise may scare the turtle, and cause it to leave without laying any eggs.
- Keep clear of tracks left by the turtle. Researchers use the tracks to identify the species of the turtle and to locate the nest.
For more information about Hawksbill turtles, click here.
And with that, we hope the baby turtles make it to wherever they’re headed next, and grow up to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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