The First Four Years of the Koh Talu Hawksbill Turtle Project

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A look back at the first four years (2009–2012) of the Koh Talu sea turtle protection project, from the first nest found by chance to the day we learned our mother turtles' names

Hawksbill mother turtle nesting on a Koh Talu beach at night

Before Dawn on the Beach

On 29 September 2009, staff at Koh Talu Island Resort were cleaning the beach before sunrise when they noticed a patch of sand that had been dug into a hollow. Curious, they dug a little deeper and found sea turtle eggs underneath.

Digging up the first hawksbill eggs found on Koh Talu, 2009

The resort contacted the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (Center 3) in Chumphon and asked for an expert to come and check. The eggs turned out to belong to a hawksbill turtle.

Mr. Apinan Chantarungsi, then Vice Governor of Prachuap Khiri Khan, came to see the site in person, together with fisheries officer Mr. Wichai Chaikaew and officers from the Bang Saphan Noi district fisheries office. He said:

The hawksbill is a rare animal with very few left in the sea ... There had been no reports of hawksbill turtles nesting in Prachuap Khiri Khan province for 20 years.

From that single nest, Mr. Preeda Charoenpak, President of the Siam Marine Rehabilitation Foundation and an executive of Koh Talu Island Resort, started the Koh Talu Sea Turtle Protection Project, with a simple aim: to help the mother turtles that come ashore to nest on the island.

The Year No Eggs Hatched

In 2010, resort staff began walking the beaches during nesting season. Whenever they found signs of a nest, they called in officers from Center 3 to move the eggs into foam boxes. Some went back to the center and some stayed on Koh Talu, to keep them safe from natural predators.

That year we recorded 12 hawksbill nests, 1,754 eggs in total.

Not a single egg hatched.

Hawksbill eggs in a foam box during relocation

That number told us that good intentions weren't enough. We had to learn how to care for turtle eggs properly.

Teachers from the Navy

2011 was the first year Koh Talu Island Resort set up a structured conservation programme for rare sea turtles, with help from the Sea Turtle Conservation Center of the Naval Special Warfare Command, Royal Thai Fleet.

Rear Admiral Winai Klom-in, then Commander, came to teach the resort staff himself, covering both how to incubate eggs and how to raise hatchlings, until the team understood the process and could do it on their own.

That year, two mother turtles came ashore to nest, though we could not yet identify them. We found 14 nests, 1,017 eggs in total. The team moved all the eggs to a semi-natural beach hatchery, set up following Rear Admiral Winai's guidance.

The result: 672 hatchlings, or 66.07% of all eggs.

Hawksbill hatchlings emerging from the nest

Compared with nests left to hatch naturally on the island, where empty eggshells found in the pits showed a hatching rate of under 20%, mostly because of natural predators, this was a very encouraging result.

Every hatchling was raised in a nursery for about three months or longer, then gradually released back to the sea.

Placing hatchlings into the nursery pond

Feeding hawksbill hatchlings in the nursery pond

The Year We Learned Their Names

In 2012, the resort asked the Naval Special Warfare Command for more support. The unit sent two underwater demolition team members, Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Thongchai Chukanhom and Petty Officer 1st Class Suthipot Boonset, to advise on everything from collecting eggs and preparing safe hatchery pits to feeding hatchlings and cleaning the nursery ponds.

That year, five mother turtles came ashore to nest: 17 nests, 2,221 eggs in total, with 1,694 hatchlings, or 76.27%.

Recording data on a hawksbill mother after nesting

The same year, the Phuket Marine Biological Center came to trial satellite transmitters on hawksbill mothers after nesting, to learn where they travel afterwards and whether they return to nest again.

It was also the first time mother turtles were fitted with ID tags and microchips, which meant we could identify them for the very first time.

Attaching an ID tag to a hawksbill mother

Mae Nok Kaeo, Mae Phriang, Mae Sri Prachuap, and Mae Sri Bang Saphan.

The names aren't just for fun. The data on each mother turtle is the foundation for studying the hawksbill population around Koh Talu and nearby waters.

Fitting a satellite transmitter to a hawksbill mother

More Than a Decade Later

When we started keeping records, we had no idea how these numbers would be used. Today, our nest-by-nest records from 2010 to 2025 cover 218 nests from 11 mother turtles that have nested on Koh Talu. The biggest year was 2015, with 3,305 eggs.

This season, a hawksbill mother laid the first nest on 21 October 2026, with 138 eggs, and a second nest followed on 5 November 2026, with 166 eggs. The team is watching the beaches every night to see whether a third nest arrives on schedule.

Records that began with a single nest before dawn in 2009 now help us predict when the mothers will return, and when the hatchlings will emerge.

What Guides Us

From the Royal Speech of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great, given on the occasion of his birthday on 5 December 1978:

...Our environment, be it land, forest, river, sea or air, is not merely beautiful. It is essential to our lives, and protecting it well is the same as safeguarding the future for our children and grandchildren...

Caring for hawksbill turtles on Koh Talu is small work, and we intend to keep doing it in that spirit.

Read more about the people who care for the turtles every day in The Mother Sea Turtle and Her Foster-Mothers, and about our other sea restoration work in Planting Coral One Piece at a Time