Despite the relative youth of East Coast Park’s reclaimed shoreline, its sands are a surprisingly popular nesting ground for hawksbill turtles when they lay their egg here from May to October.
Reported sightings of the critically endangered hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) along with their tracks and other traces, have averaged about 20 annually from 2021 to 2024, according to NParks.
Only a handful of these reports involve actual turtle sightings. The hawksbill is the sole turtle species known to nest in Singapore.
Among those fortunate enough to see one was Marine Parade resident Felix Tan, who jogged in the opposite direction of his daily running route on Aug 11.
As serendipity would have it, the 54-year-old turtle enthusiast was stopped in his tracks that night by one of the world’s smallest species of sea turtles, which had lumbered ashore at East Coast Park to lay her eggs.
“For the first hour, she was moving in circles, flipping sand here and there,” said the pilot, adding that the hawksbill turtle appeared to be covering her tracks.
Mr Tan, who had previously encountered species while diving, added: “It’s always a privilege to see wild turtles, that’s why I ended up watching her for over two hours.”
Hawksbill turtles (above) help maintain the health of coral reefs by eating sea sponges with their bird-like beaks, which gave the species its name.
The global population of hawksbills declined by more than 80 per cent over the last century, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, which estimates that about 8,000 nesting females remain.
On an interesting note, only the hawksbill is known to lay its eggs on Singapore’s shores. The globally endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas) – the other species found in the Republic’s waters – has not been observed nesting here.
The task of tracking and conserving turtles has been entrusted to NParks’ coastal and marine branch at the National Biodiversity Centre, the first responders to any turtle sighting round the clock.
Such was the case on Aug 11, when the team arrived about 20 minutes after receiving a 9.10pm report of the mother turtle spotted by Mr Tan and others.
Sea turtles tend to come ashore to nest when the tide is high, as they must lay their eggs past the high-tide mark. This step is crucial, as the embryos “breathe” through the eggs’ pores.
Hawksbills dig their nest for up to an hour before laying dozens of soft-shelled eggs, which are less likely to break.
The record number of eggs laid by a single hawksbill turtle in Singapore stands at 177 in 2020.
When the NParks team arrived, a captivated audience was watching from a distance as the turtle camouflaged her nest and tracks – the final step before she returned to sea.
The staff carefully restrained her (above), a Herculean task that at one point involved eight people.
Noticing the reptile’s increasingly agitated thrashing, the team decided to forego the satellite tracker, which would have allowed them to pinpoint her movements more accurately.
Within 10 minutes, they measured her shell, attached on hardy, lightweight tags (below) to her front flippers and documented her facial scales – a pattern unique to every turtle.
These flipper tags will help researchers who chance upon the turtle understand where she came from and how far she has travelled, said Mr Collin Tong, deputy director of the coastal and marine branch.
“We actually tagged the first nesting turtle that we saw this season with a SG60 titanium tag to commemorate Singapore’s 60th National Day,” he said. “That was quite special for us.”
Separately, the turtle’s nest was located within a minute, measured for its depth, marked with a tag and concealed with a plastic mesh to ward off the eggs’ main predators.
The mesh is one of the improvements to the conservation process, said Mr Tong, explaining that the team had realised monitor lizards preyed on turtle eggs, which are akin to a “protein buffet”.
Non-magnetic materials are used for all protective structures used by the team to shield the eggs.
“Hatchlings use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate, so any magnetic metal around the eggs will interfere with their development. It’s like putting a magnet next to a compass,” explained Mr Tong, one of five pioneering members of the team responsible for coastal and marine issues in 2004. The team has since grown to more than 15 staff.
Hawksbill hatchlings imprint on the beaches where they are born once they emerge from their nests. This means that after reaching maturity in 20 to 30 years, females are likely to return to the same areas to lay their eggs.
Eggs laid in any unsuitable sites are relocated to the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park turtle hatchery about 40 days into development, once the embryos are more stabilised.
Set up in 2018, the hatchery on Small Sister’s Island is a protected area that limits disturbance from human traffic and light pollution.
“(The Long Island reclamation) is one of the reasons we are relocating the eggs to the hatchery,” Mr Tong said.
“If they return to our beaches, we will still have beaches in the south, so they will hopefully go back to these areas in 20 to 30 years’ time,” he added.
“Maybe in 2038, we will see the first batch coming back.”
Relocated hatchlings have successfully redirected turtles in the past, as shown by the Kemp’s ridley turtle. Conservationists moved the endangered species’ nesting grounds from Mexico to Texas’ Padre Island, with results seen only after nearly two decades.
At an undisclosed site in East Coast Park, coastal and marine branch managers (above) Alyssa Li and Ilbert Chong perform the back-breaking task of extracting the eggs individually and placing them in a bucket.
Mr Tong quipped: “We try not to rotate the eggs, so we are like a claw machine of sorts.”
Sand is packed between the eggs to prevent them from sliding around. By the end of the excavation, both managers are dripping with sweat.
The bucket is then transported by car and a 30-minute ferry ride.
At the hatchery, Ms Li and her colleague Alan Tan dig a hole by hand inside a sand-filled metal cage before burying the eggs at a depth that recreates their original nest. The cage protects the artificial nest from predators, including long-tailed macaques on the island.
The team recently started placing less viable eggs in a second hole at a shallower depth, to give potentially weaker hatchlings a head start in life.
Both nests are monitored remotely by camera.
Unhatched eggs and other samples of genetic material are handed to NTU’s Asian School of the Environment, which is working with NParks to fill gaps in knowledge about turtles in Singapore and the region.
The research, led by Associate Professor Kim Hie Lim, includes studying bacteria in turtle nest environments and examining the threats that sea turtles face in Singapore.
Among these efforts is research fellow Lyndsey Tanabe’s study on the impact of sea-level rise and temperature on turtle nests.
Turtles are extremely vulnerable to temperature changes. When eggs incubate at 29.2 deg C, a nest will produce an even mix of males and females in the clutch, Dr Tanabe said. At higher temperatures, more females are produced.
“With rising temperatures in the future, we might have an issue of feminisation,” she said.
To account for rising heat, the hatchery’s incubation cages were shifted to a shadier location, Mr Tong said.
In 2024, 454 hatchlings left the safety of the hatchery, up from nearly 300 in its first year.
Driving the hatchery’s success are members of the public who report sightings, and NParks’ Biodiversity Beach Patrol volunteers who comb Changi and East Coast Park for signs of turtles.
Mr Tong said the volunteers start at 5am so they can locate the nests before monitor lizards awaken for breakfast.
This spirit of collaboration builds on the Marine Turtle Working Group initiated in 2006 by biologist N. Sivasothi, which brings together academia, government and conservation groups.
The group began as a way to coordinate conservation responses after one rescue where people from the various organisations turned up, the NUS lecturer said.
When asked about his serial tendency of starting working groups –, he has done so for animals such as otters and long-tailed macaques – Mr Sivasothi said: “It’s in my DNA to link people up.”
He added: “If you don’t have ego, it’s helpful because whoever is best for the job gets moved.”
These days, Biodiversity Beach Patrol volunteers can also help release baby turtles if they spot a nest.
Among the fortunate few to do so on Aug 23 was freelance diver Charis King, 33, whose search party of three found the second nest of the season on July 4 through a turtle’s tracks.
“As I held the baby turtles for a short while when I helped to count them, they felt so fragile,” Ms King said. “To know that there are so many things out there to eat them, and that I helped improve their chances of living, reminded me that life is so precious.”
An estimated one in 1,000 turtles survives until adulthood.
This grim statistic makes the public’s role even more vital.
Mr Tong said the biggest challenge for turtle management in Singapore today lies in equipping the community to call NParks when they see signs of a turtle.
He recalled seeing a couple walk past turtle tracks at East Coast Park, oblivious to what they were.
“Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered. Even our neighbours have very few of them,” he said. “They are native to Singapore, so I think we shouldn’t lose a species under our watch.”
Turtle sightings can be reported to the NParks helpline on 1800-471-7300.
People who encounter the reptiles are advised to speak softly and stay out of sight, and to avoid shining lights on the turtle or using flash photography, as light and noise may scare it away before it lays its eggs.
The public should also keep clear of tracks left by turtles, as researchers use them to identify the species and locate nests.
Those interested in participating in NParks’ efforts to monitor sea turtle populations in Singapore can join NParks’ Biodiversity Beach Patrol through its website.