The Wandering TribeA Guide to the Sea Turtles Found in Thai Waters
Last week, 70 sea turtles unexpectedly hatched on Kata Noi Beach and set off on their very first swim. Nobody knew the eggs were there — not the staff of the local hotels, not even specialists from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR).
How did that happen?
Normally, reports of turtle nests discovered on beaches concern visits from leatherback turtles — enormous creatures that leave a track in the sand up to two metres wide. But the nest at Kata Noi belonged to a green turtle, a considerably smaller species. No wonder the animal that came ashore under cover of darkness went unnoticed. By morning, even its tracks had disappeared from the sand.
In this article, we’ll tell you which sea turtles currently inhabit the waters around Phuket. Our source is the DMCR knowledge base.
Protected Species
Today, only seven species of sea turtle remain in the world — as if nature had decided that seven was enough: seven notes, seven colours, seven days of the week. Five members of this magnificent seven can be found in Thai waters.
For centuries, humans ruthlessly exploited nature in pursuit of the long dollar, rouble and baht, pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Turtles were hunted indiscriminately for their meat, eggs and shells until, sometime in the 20th century, it became painfully obvious that they were on their way out.
Today, turtles face threats not only from direct hunting, but also from trawling — a coastal fishing method that became increasingly popular among Thai fishermen in the 1960s. Turtles were caught in the same nets as fish, and since both their shells and meat had always been valuable, nobody was particularly bothered by the accidental catch.
It took decades before specialists were able to assemble enough comprehensive statistics to confirm what was happening: turtle populations were steadily disappearing. This eventually led to laws banning trawling in coastal waters and within three kilometres of the shore. By then, however, turtle numbers had already fallen catastrophically.
That is how the leatherback turtle found itself on the brink of extinction.
1. Leatherback Turtle
Dermochelys coriacea — the leatherback turtle — is the largest living member of the entire turtle family. Unlike other turtles, its shell is not made of hard scutes but of dense, leathery skin. Hence the name.
Growing up to two metres long but living a surprisingly cat-like average lifespan of around 25 years, the leatherback feeds on jellyfish, plankton and molluscs. On this rather liquid diet, it can reach a weight of 400 kilograms by adulthood — and, if everything goes well, comes ashore to lay eggs once every three years.
Unfortunately, the latter has become a rare event. Trawlers, plastic, poaching — these are among the main reasons leatherbacks have grown increasingly sceptical about humanity.
But the giants do seem to have noticed that humans are finally changing their ways.
In 2019, in neighbouring Phang Nga Province, local residents were delighted to discover the first leatherback nest found there in many years. Efforts to protect coastal areas and encourage the turtles to return were finally beginning to pay off.
The discovery prompted the signing of a memorandum to protect leatherback turtles through a joint effort involving local authorities, private businesses, environmental organisations and the Royal Thai Navy. The document was signed by the governors of Phang Nga and Phuket, along with a long list of representatives from various departments of Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
2. Green Turtle
Chelonia mydas — the green turtle — is not actually all that green. At least not on top: its shell is generally brownish.
The underside, however, contains a layer of fat with a distinctive greenish tint. The reason is simple: green turtles eat algae, and apparently even their body fat likes to coordinate its colour palette.
Not so long ago, green turtles themselves were highly sought after by gourmets and poachers. Hunting became so intensive that this once plentiful creature — weighing up to a quarter of a tonne and reaching 1.5 metres in length — is now classified as endangered.
Soup made from Chelonia mydas was once considered a prized Thai delicacy. Then the turtles started running out.
The authorities eventually sounded the alarm, and turtle farms and conservation and breeding centres began appearing in an effort to restore the population.
Today, Thailand has seven major organisations dedicated to turtle conservation. One of them is based at Cape Panwa in Phuket and is open to visitors. Their main job is incubating turtles and releasing them into their natural habitat.
Turtlehood is a dangerous business in general, and far from all of the DMCR hatchlings survive after entering the open sea.
The survival rate of farm-raised turtles in the wild is estimated at around 10–30% — and that is after they have already made it through “kindergarten,” where only about 80% successfully hatch in the first place.
Even so, their survival rate in the absence of predators is, naturally, higher than it would be under completely wild conditions. So there is still hope of restoring the green turtle population — and it is not entirely wishful thinking.
3. Hawksbill Turtle
Eretmochelys imbricata — the hawksbill turtle — is the Posh Spice of the turtle world.
Its shell is a work of art, composed of overlapping rows of large scutes that form an intricate natural pattern. And precisely because it is so beautiful, the hawksbill became a prime target for poachers and connoisseurs of beautiful things that don’t necessarily have to be alive.
The hawksbill is relatively compact for a sea turtle: around one metre long and weighing up to 80 kilograms.
In Thailand, where turtles enjoy the highest level of legal protection, any interference with their wellbeing has long been prohibited. In less enlightened times, however, their shells — ranging from brown to yellow and amber — were irresistible to enterprising traders.
The saddest part is that in subtropical countries without laws as strict as Thailand’s, hawksbills are still being slaughtered for their beautiful armour.
Despite official protection, hawksbills rarely nest in Thailand. They are, however, firmly established as part of the country’s marine fauna, with sightings recorded throughout the Kingdom — from the Similan Islands to Samui.
4. Olive Ridley Turtle
Lepidochelys olivacea — the olive ridley — is famous for a phenomenon known as an arribada, literally a “mass arrival.”
Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of turtles come ashore simultaneously to nest.
Thailand has yet to witness an olive ridley arribada. These mass events are more commonly associated with the shores of India, Mexico and Costa Rica.
In the Andaman Sea, however, statistics suggest that olive ridleys are regular visitors, happy to spend some time in Thai waters. And, like tourists themselves, they often seem to favour places already popular with tourists — Kata and Karon beaches, as well as the Racha Islands.
Who knows? Perhaps one day they’ll become sufficiently impressed by Thailand’s turtle-friendly laws to start nesting more regularly around Phuket.
5. Loggerhead Turtle
Caretta caretta — the loggerhead turtle — gets its name, unsurprisingly, from its unusually large head, which is slightly oversized compared with the proportions of its relatives.
Loggerheads nest extremely rarely in Thailand, partly because they already have an impressively broad geographical range: the Mediterranean, the Atlantic coast of the United States and the northern beaches of Australia, among others.
Marine biologists occasionally spot them along the beaches of the Andaman Sea and, somewhat less frequently, on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand.
The Other Turtles
The remaining two species of sea turtle that generally give Thailand a wide berth are the flatback turtle and Kemp’s ridley. They prefer the waters around Australia and the Gulf of Mexico respectively.
Kemp’s ridley is the smallest of all sea turtles, weighing up to 50 kilograms, with a shell no longer than about 70 centimetres.
Of course, childhood is a particularly dangerous period for sea turtles, and many die almost immediately after hatching. That is why a turtle nest contains dozens of eggs.
But if a turtle manages to make it to adulthood, the entire ocean opens up before it — which means fewer predators to worry about and anywhere from 23 to 100 years of relatively free-ranging life.
The greatest threat to an adult turtle, however, remains the same as it has always been: humans.
Even when we are not hunting them directly.
The anthropogenic factor is the key problem. In the sea, the turtle’s greatest fear is still the human being — whether he arrives as a poacher, a fisherman, or simply a tourist tossing plastic into the ocean.
Last week, 70 sea turtles unexpectedly hatched on Kata Noi Beach and set off on their very first swim. Nobody knew the eggs were there — not the staff of the local hotels, not even specialists from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR).
How did that happen?
Normally, reports of turtle nests discovered on beaches concern visits from leatherback turtles — enormous creatures that leave a track in the sand up to two metres wide. But the nest at Kata Noi belonged to a green turtle, a considerably smaller species. No wonder the animal that came ashore under cover of darkness went unnoticed. By morning, even its tracks had disappeared from the sand.
In this article, we’ll tell you which sea turtles currently inhabit the waters around Phuket. Our source is the DMCR knowledge base.
Protected Species
Today, only seven species of sea turtle remain in the world — as if nature had decided that seven was enough: seven notes, seven colours, seven days of the week. Five members of this magnificent seven can be found in Thai waters.
For centuries, humans ruthlessly exploited nature in pursuit of the long dollar, rouble and baht, pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Turtles were hunted indiscriminately for their meat, eggs and shells until, sometime in the 20th century, it became painfully obvious that they were on their way out.
Today, turtles face threats not only from direct hunting, but also from trawling — a coastal fishing method that became increasingly popular among Thai fishermen in the 1960s. Turtles were caught in the same nets as fish, and since both their shells and meat had always been valuable, nobody was particularly bothered by the accidental catch.
It took decades before specialists were able to assemble enough comprehensive statistics to confirm what was happening: turtle populations were steadily disappearing. This eventually led to laws banning trawling in coastal waters and within three kilometres of the shore. By then, however, turtle numbers had already fallen catastrophically.
That is how the leatherback turtle found itself on the brink of extinction.
1. Leatherback Turtle
Dermochelys coriacea — the leatherback turtle — is the largest living member of the entire turtle family. Unlike other turtles, its shell is not made of hard scutes but of dense, leathery skin. Hence the name.
Growing up to two metres long but living a surprisingly cat-like average lifespan of around 25 years, the leatherback feeds on jellyfish, plankton and molluscs. On this rather liquid diet, it can reach a weight of 400 kilograms by adulthood — and, if everything goes well, comes ashore to lay eggs once every three years.
Unfortunately, the latter has become a rare event. Trawlers, plastic, poaching — these are among the main reasons leatherbacks have grown increasingly sceptical about humanity.
But the giants do seem to have noticed that humans are finally changing their ways.
In 2019, in neighbouring Phang Nga Province, local residents were delighted to discover the first leatherback nest found there in many years. Efforts to protect coastal areas and encourage the turtles to return were finally beginning to pay off.
The discovery prompted the signing of a memorandum to protect leatherback turtles through a joint effort involving local authorities, private businesses, environmental organisations and the Royal Thai Navy. The document was signed by the governors of Phang Nga and Phuket, along with a long list of representatives from various departments of Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
2. Green Turtle
Chelonia mydas — the green turtle — is not actually all that green. At least not on top: its shell is generally brownish.
The underside, however, contains a layer of fat with a distinctive greenish tint. The reason is simple: green turtles eat algae, and apparently even their body fat likes to coordinate its colour palette.
Not so long ago, green turtles themselves were highly sought after by gourmets and poachers. Hunting became so intensive that this once plentiful creature — weighing up to a quarter of a tonne and reaching 1.5 metres in length — is now classified as endangered.
Soup made from Chelonia mydas was once considered a prized Thai delicacy. Then the turtles started running out.
The authorities eventually sounded the alarm, and turtle farms and conservation and breeding centres began appearing in an effort to restore the population.
Today, Thailand has seven major organisations dedicated to turtle conservation. One of them is based at Cape Panwa in Phuket and is open to visitors. Their main job is incubating turtles and releasing them into their natural habitat.
Turtlehood is a dangerous business in general, and far from all of the DMCR hatchlings survive after entering the open sea.
The survival rate of farm-raised turtles in the wild is estimated at around 10–30% — and that is after they have already made it through “kindergarten,” where only about 80% successfully hatch in the first place.
Even so, their survival rate in the absence of predators is, naturally, higher than it would be under completely wild conditions. So there is still hope of restoring the green turtle population — and it is not entirely wishful thinking.
3. Hawksbill Turtle
Eretmochelys imbricata — the hawksbill turtle — is the Posh Spice of the turtle world.
Its shell is a work of art, composed of overlapping rows of large scutes that form an intricate natural pattern. And precisely because it is so beautiful, the hawksbill became a prime target for poachers and connoisseurs of beautiful things that don’t necessarily have to be alive.
The hawksbill is relatively compact for a sea turtle: around one metre long and weighing up to 80 kilograms.
In Thailand, where turtles enjoy the highest level of legal protection, any interference with their wellbeing has long been prohibited. In less enlightened times, however, their shells — ranging from brown to yellow and amber — were irresistible to enterprising traders.
The saddest part is that in subtropical countries without laws as strict as Thailand’s, hawksbills are still being slaughtered for their beautiful armour.
Despite official protection, hawksbills rarely nest in Thailand. They are, however, firmly established as part of the country’s marine fauna, with sightings recorded throughout the Kingdom — from the Similan Islands to Samui.
4. Olive Ridley Turtle
Lepidochelys olivacea — the olive ridley — is famous for a phenomenon known as an arribada, literally a “mass arrival.”
Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of turtles come ashore simultaneously to nest.
Thailand has yet to witness an olive ridley arribada. These mass events are more commonly associated with the shores of India, Mexico and Costa Rica.
In the Andaman Sea, however, statistics suggest that olive ridleys are regular visitors, happy to spend some time in Thai waters. And, like tourists themselves, they often seem to favour places already popular with tourists — Kata and Karon beaches, as well as the Racha Islands.
Who knows? Perhaps one day they’ll become sufficiently impressed by Thailand’s turtle-friendly laws to start nesting more regularly around Phuket.
5. Loggerhead Turtle
Caretta caretta — the loggerhead turtle — gets its name, unsurprisingly, from its unusually large head, which is slightly oversized compared with the proportions of its relatives.
Loggerheads nest extremely rarely in Thailand, partly because they already have an impressively broad geographical range: the Mediterranean, the Atlantic coast of the United States and the northern beaches of Australia, among others.
Marine biologists occasionally spot them along the beaches of the Andaman Sea and, somewhat less frequently, on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand.
The Other Turtles
The remaining two species of sea turtle that generally give Thailand a wide berth are the flatback turtle and Kemp’s ridley. They prefer the waters around Australia and the Gulf of Mexico respectively.
Kemp’s ridley is the smallest of all sea turtles, weighing up to 50 kilograms, with a shell no longer than about 70 centimetres.
Of course, childhood is a particularly dangerous period for sea turtles, and many die almost immediately after hatching. That is why a turtle nest contains dozens of eggs.
But if a turtle manages to make it to adulthood, the entire ocean opens up before it — which means fewer predators to worry about and anywhere from 23 to 100 years of relatively free-ranging life.
The greatest threat to an adult turtle, however, remains the same as it has always been: humans.
Even when we are not hunting them directly.
The anthropogenic factor is the key problem. In the sea, the turtle’s greatest fear is still the human being — whether he arrives as a poacher, a fisherman, or simply a tourist tossing plastic into the ocean.
A Guide to the Sea Turtles Found in Thai Waters
the Nomad Tribe
Original text translated by Claude