Diving with sea turtles

December 28, 2017

Did you know that there are sea turtles that call Singapore reefs home? They can be spotted feeding on our reefs in the day, or sleeping in a crevice during the night. They can hold their breath for up to 7 hours while resting or sleeping!

Not only are our reefs an important place for our sea turtles, but so are our shores. Sea turtles are routinely sighted on our shores which is a critical habitat for sea turtles to nest. You wouldn’t expect that Singapore’s busy beaches could be a suitable nesting site for hundreds of sea turtles, but I guess that means that there is something about our beaches that mother sea turtles know that we haven’t figured out yet!

The species of sea turtle most often sighted in Singapore is the Hawksbill, as seen in the video above. The Hawksbill is one of 7 species of globally endangered sea turtles. We are indeed fortunate to have these animals share our seas and shores. It is a real test of our ingenuity in this era of rapid and relentless development to be able to create and manage spaces where wild animals and humans can safely interact. Volunteer organisations and government agencies are working hard to improve these processes, and they are getting better at it every year, as more enthusiastic people chip in to lend ideas and a helping hand!

Even though sea turtles are rarely seen, rest assured that they are out there – as long as we keep our reefs alive, and our shores safe, we will continue do our best to bring you images and videos of these wild and rare creatures so that you know that efforts to save our coasts are making a real difference! If you are a diver, join us for a dive trip and you might just get the chance to meet these animals face to face in Singapore’s very special city reefs.

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