Hawksbill turtles get head start in Singapore

SINGAPORE – The early years of Singapore’s sea turtles have long been shrouded in mystery, but the public can now witness critically endangered hawksbill hatchlings getting a head start in life here.

Under round-the-clock care at the Singapore Oceanarium, eight juvenile turtles, hatched from eggs originally laid on Kusu Island, will learn to forage in an enclosure. The habitat shields them from human observers – creating an environment where the reptiles remain unaware of their audience – much like the 1998 hit film The Truman Show.

The programme to raise the species at risk of extinction in captivity will allow each turtle to reach a size that gives it a better chance of survival when released into the wild, National Parks Board’s (NParks) National Biodiversity Centre group director Karenne Tun told the media on May 11.

Only an estimated one in 1,000 baby sea turtles reaches adulthood after leaving the nest, as they face threats from predators, pollution and other environmental pressures.

Typically, sea turtle eggs laid in unsuitable sites are relocated by NParks to Sisters’ Islands Marine Park for hatching. By protecting hatchlings from human traffic and light pollution, they are more likely to return to beaches in the area to lay their eggs in 20 to 30 years.

Dr Tun recalled an earlier nest of hatchlings near Raffles Lighthouse on Pulau Satumu, where hatchlings guarded by the lighthouse keeper were gobbled up by reef sharks as soon as they toddled into the sea.

“That’s when we thought, maybe we can release them when they can’t be taken so easily,” she said.

This was one of the motivations behind the 2019 launch of the hawksbill turtle head-starting programme, which began with 10 hatchlings at S.E.A. Aquarium, which has since evolved into the Singapore Oceanarium.

The pioneering cohort had an incredible survival rate, Dr Tun said. Except for one turtle that died of a liver disorder, the turtles were progressively released in 2023 and 2024.

Data from satellite tags fitted on three turtles showed that two headed south towards Indonesia, while another swam along the Strait of Malacca towards southern Thailand.

The current cohort – the second batch in the programme – represents the next phase of the collaboration between NParks and the oceanarium, with members of the public able to learn more about the turtles’ behaviour and the threats they face.

“If you haven’t had the chance to dive and see a turtle, this is a great opportunity to see a turtle up close – how they swim and how they surface to breathe,” said Mr Tang Yong Jen, a conservation and science executive at Singapore Oceanarium.

A tinted film covering the Horizontal Migration Zone habitat prevents the turtles from becoming too familiar with humans, said Mr Nick Derbyshire, senior director of fish and invertebrates at Singapore Oceanarium.

“Because they are part of conservation efforts, we haven’t named them. These are purely animals here for a short period of time. The sole purpose is to get them through these early stages… then get them out there back in the wild,” he said.

The eight hatchlings hail from the last documented nest of the 2025 turtle nesting season in Singapore, representing about 6 per cent of the eggs in that nest. The nesting season typically runs from May to October. Notably, that season logged 19 nests, the highest count here since 2020.

Upon hatching in October 2025 at NParks’ hatchery, they were taken to the Singapore Oceanarium, where they have been fed a heavily researched diet that includes crustaceans, vitamins and squid.

Figuring out food that fits the turtle’s tiny mouths was one of the biggest challenges of the conservation process, said Mr Derbyshire, adding that the team worked hard to find the right nutritional content based on historical data and research on other sea turtle species.

Nanyang Technological University Associate Professor Kim Hie Lim, who is leading research into Singapore’s sea turtles, said her team has extracted samples from hatchlings to analyse their genetic information and study their connections to the local turtle population.

Today, the turtles weigh an average of 1.2kg. An adult hawksbill can weigh about 50kg, and its lifespan can go up to 50 years, Mr Derbyshire said.

The juveniles have taken to exploring their new front-of-house habitat with gusto, cruising above the enclosure’s artificial corals with their flippers tucked under their bodies, he added.

“They are real characters. Some of them are a little bit more dominant. Some of them are a little bit more adventurous,” he said.

The plan is for some of the turtles to be fitted with satellite trackers once they hit at least 6kg.

“We want them to be large enough so (that) the satellite tag doesn’t weigh them down,” Dr Tun explained.

Based on current growth rates, the turtles are expected to be ready for release from early 2027.

Two species of sea turtles frequent Singapore’s coastal waters – the green turtle, which has recovered due to worldwide marine conservation efforts, and the hawksbill turtle.

Turtle sightings can be reported to NParks via its helpline on 1800-471-7300.

Those interested in participating in NParks’ efforts to monitor sea turtle populations in Singapore can join NParks’ Biodiversity Beach Patrol through its website.