Etta Chedda Cheese

Etta Chedda Cheese is another hawksbill turtle named after one of Will Nesset’s nieces, Etta, who proudly chose her nickname as her turtle’s name and keeps up-to-date on her sea turtle counterpart’s movements.

Etta has been recorded a total of four times in the Andaman Turtle Watch database, always around the dive sites at the north of Similan Island 9. She has been observed foraging along the reef, and on one occasion was seen with sand on her carapace – possible evidence that she had been ‘digging’ or ‘burying‘ herself in the sand, a behaviour occasionally observed but not commonly recorded in sea turtles.

With continued efforts alongside Andaman Turtle Watch, Big Blue is excited to learn more about Etta Chedda Cheese and her habitat use around Similan Island 9 – which is emerging as a potential hotspot for sea turtle sightings in ATW’s first season. More data and citizen scientist contributions will help confirm these patterns and support conservation of this important reef ecosystem.