Image/text by Elsie C. Orabona, whl.travel local connection in Ubatuba, Brazil
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That’s a hawksbill turtle. With its namesake hawk-like bill, it is considered one of the most beautiful of the five marine turtle species encountered in Brazilian waters. It is a superb animal and can live more than 60 years. Unfortunately, already critically endangered, it will one day be extinct if people continue to kill them for food or for their shells (used to manufacture combs and eyeglasses).
The encounter shown above happened in Ubatuba, Brazil, during a dive. Our region is blessed with a lot of algae, fish, sponges and crustaceans that most marine turtles love to eat, so it’s very common for us to see them on our beaches and swimming around our snorkelling and dive sites. They are so sweet and move so gracefully underwater that they enchant almost every diver.
Posted under Brazil, Photo of the Week, countries, responsible organisations
This post was written by editor on January 10, 2010