Identifying Sea Turtles of Belize

Learning to distinguish between the different sea turtle species in Belize is EASY!  There are only three common species and two rarely sighted species.  Presented here for your review are a description of the turtles encountered and information on them.

Green Turtle

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Photo Courtesy of Daniel Rimkus
According to Christopher Columbus "green sea turtles were once so abundant they covered the seas."  they eat! They are the second largest sea turtle and can weigh up to 500 pounds.  They can be easily identified by their 4 pairs of lateral scutes and single pair of pre-frontal scales.  Green turtles are actually named after the color of their fat which is probably attributable to all the sea grass. Juveniles and adults can be found on reefs and over seagrass beds throughout Belize.

Nesting Tracks

Green turtles have symmetrical tracks that have an average width of 100-130cm.  These symmetrical tracks are made by the turtle literally dragging themselves up the beach by moving their front flippers forward simultaneously.
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Photo Courtesy of NPS

Hawksbill Turtle

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Photo Courtesy of Linda Searle
Hawksbill turtles can be distinguished by their 4 pairs of overlapping lateral scutes and hawk-like beak.  They have 2 pairs of pre-frontal scales and can weigh up to 200 pounds.   They were once harvested for their shell which was used to make jewelry, eye glasses and other items. 
Their favorite habitat is coral reefs where they spend the day looking for their favorite food - sponges.  Juvenile and adult hawksbill sea turtles are found throughout Belize and reports received in the Sea Turtle Census indicate they are the MOST abundant sea turtle in Belize! 

In the 1600s ancient mariners referred to the Cockscomb Mountains as the "Sierra de Carey" or "Hawksbill Mountains".  Was this because Belize was known for it's abundant hawksbill sea turtle population or did the jagged edge of the mountains resemble a hawksbill shell? Or both?

Nesting Tracks

Hawksbill turtles have asymmetrical tracks when they crawl up on the beach.  These are created because the turtle moves one flipper foward at the same time as the opposite side.  This leaves behind asymmetrical or a 'zipper' of tracks.  Hawksbill asymmetrical tracks typically have a width of 70-85cm.

Leatherback Turtle

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Photo Courtesy of Pretoma
Leatherback turtles are the only sea turtle that has a soft shell. They are the largest of all sea turtles and can weigh up to a ton and have shells of up to 8 feet in length!  They are easily identifiable by their size, soft carapace and prominent ridges on their carapace.  They swim through the open ocean and feed primarily on jellyfish. These are occasionally seen in the open ocean and in the Victoria Channel which extends along the coast from Robinson Point to Monkey River.

Nesting Tracks

Leatherback turtles have symmetrical tracks like green turtles. However, it should come as no surprise that the width of leatherback turtle tracks is significantly larger than that of the green! Leatherback turtles leave tracks that have an average width of 150-230cm and larger.
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Photo Courtesy of Kerrie Naranjit

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Loggerhead Turtle

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Photo Courtesy of Gary Gaston
Loggerhead turtles can easily be distinguished by their large head.  They can weigh up to 450 pounds and their shell can be up to 3.5 feet in length.  They have 5 pairs of lateral scutes. 
They are found cruising coral reefs looking for crustaceans and mollusks.  Juvenile loggerheads are not common in Belize so sightings of this size would be very important.


Nesting Tracks

Like the Hawksbill, Loggerhead turtles have asymmetrical, zipper-like tracks when they crawl onto the beach to nest.  However, they tend to be a bit larger on average than the Hawksbill in width.  Loggerhead tracks average in around 80-90 cm and larger in width.
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Photo Courtesy of Ken Lochmann

Olive Ridley Turtle

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Photo Courtesy of Michael Jensen
The range of olive ridley turtles was not thought to extend to the waters of Belize but in early 2011, a stranded olive ridley was found floating in discarded fishing gear near Hol Chan Marine Reserve. She was rehabilitated and released 4 months later.  Olive ridleys can be distinguished by the disk-shape of their shell.  They are a small turtle weighing 75-100 pounds on average with a shell length of about 2 feet. Olive ridleys are omnivores that can be found near coral reefs and in the open sea.

Nesting Tracks

Olive Ridley turtles have asymmetrical tracks that only measure about 70-80cm in width.  Olive ridley turtles tend to nest during the day unlike the other species of sea turtles.

Kemp's Ridley Turtle

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Photo Courtesy of Andrea McCracken
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Photo Courtesy of NPS
The Kemp's Ridley is the rarest of all sea turtles and has not yet been spotted in Belize. They are small like the Olive Ridely and have and oval shell. 95% of all nestings of Kemp's Ridley turtles occur on the beach at Rancho Nuevo, on the gulf coast of Mexico near Brownsville, TX, where they nest in large groups known as arribadas. They love to hang out in places with muddy, sandy bottoms where they can find their favorite food of crustaceans and molluscs.

Nesting Tracks

Like the Olive Ridley, Kemp's Ridley turtles have asymmetrical tracks of about the same average width of 70-80cm.  Again, like the Olive Ridley, Kemp's Ridley sea turtles tend to nest during the day.

Contact Details

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PO Box 1234
Belize City, Belize
TEL: + (501) 223-3022
CEL: + (501) 671-3483
Email: info@ecomarbelize.org

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