The Hawksbill Turtle is omnivorous. Their narrow pointed beak is a specialized feeding tool, much like that of a bird of prey. Its shape and length allows the turtle to reach into small cracks in the coral reef to extract sponges and other invertebrate.
Coral reef sponges are the Hawksbills primary source of food. For most animals, these sponges are toxic due to the spicules (glass-like spines) they contain, however the Hawksbill turtle is immune to this making its competition very small.
This type of feeding provides a service to other marine life on the coral reefs, making Hawksbills an important part of the ecosystem, contributing to the health of coral reefs and wider marine life.
They also eat sea anemones, mollusks, jellyfish and are known to be opportunistic predators.
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