Temporal and geographic distribution of hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) nests in Fiji, South Pacific

Abstract

The Critically Endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) has a circumglobal distribution with nesting activities that have been recorded in 70 countries across the tropical and temperate regions (Witzell 1983; Mortimer & Donnelly 2008). One of the largest hawksbill nesting rookeries is in Barbados in the Caribbean, where there is an estimated total population of 1,250 nesting females (Meylan & Donnelly 1999; Beggs et al. 2007). Within the Pacific, about 220-580 hawksbill females nest annually in northern Australia (Hoenner et al. 2016; Bell et al. 2020). Fiji hosts nesting activities from two species of sea turtles: hawksbill, locally known as ‘vonu taku’, and green turtle (Chelonia mydas), locally known as ‘vonu dina’ (Guinea 1993; Bell 2013; Piovano 2018; Piovano et al. 2019).