Hawksbill Sea Turtle / Haggan Karai
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Hawksbill Sea Turtle / Haggan Karai
Eretmochelys imbricata
Native Resident Endangered Species
The hawksbill sea turtle, or "haggan karai" as it is known in Chamoru, is
less common around Guam than the green sea turtle (haggan) but is not
considered rare. Considerably smaller than the haggan, a fully grown haggan
karai reaches a weight of only about 100 pounds (45 kg) with a maximum shell
length of 2.5 feet (76 cm). The haggan karai feeds primarily on sponges and
therefore is most frequently observed in harbors and lagoons where sponges
are abundant.
The upper surface of the haggan karai is mottled brown and the underside is
straw yellow. The shell plates and edges overlap forming a semi-jagged edge
toward the back end of the shell. There are four plates between the eyes and
two claws on each flipper.
Haggan karai spend most of their lives in the ocean, but every few years will migrate back to the beach where they were born. The female crawls ashore on a sandy beach and uses her flippers to dig a large hole in the sand above the high-water line near some vegetation. She lays about 100 eggs which she covers with sand. The eggs take about 60 days to hatch. Near sunrise, the two-inch (5 cm) long hatchlings emerge from their eggs, dig up through the sand, and start their journey out to sea. Haggan karai still occasionally nest on Guam.
Turtle meat and turtle eggs were once prized food sources on Guam and the shells were used for decorative purposes. The haggan karai has been placed on the Federal and local Endangered Species lists. It is illegal to capture, possess, buy, sell, or transport the haggan karai or any part thereof, including but not limited to shells, shell jewelry, and meat.
January 26, 2006 a dead turtle was reported to have washed ashore at
Jeff's Pirates Cove, Ipan/Talofofo. Biologists Brent Tibbatts and Marine
Technician Lil Taijeron recovered the very decomposed body, measured it and
burried the remains.
Guam Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 9/27/2005
