Hungry sea turtle shares meal with angelfish

A hungry sea turtle contentedly munches away on coral and sponges far below the waves in the Cayman Islands. It's a beautiful sight as he slowly tears off pieces and chews them. But for another hungry reef creature, it's an opportunity that is too good to pass up. Breaking off pieces of sponge and dislodging small creatures that live in the crevices is hard work for a fish. It’s far easier to let a bigger and stronger friend do the tough part. The turtle chews away, unconcerned with the small pieces that drift around so he doesn’t mind the angelfish feeding on the leftovers.
This is a Hawksbill, a critically endangered sea turtle that can be found in the Caribbean and South America. Its numbers have declined to such an extent that scuba divers become quite excited to see one. They are normally shy and reclusive and will rarely allow such a close approach to allow them to be filmed eating calmly.

Hawksbill turtles are actually carnivores since their diet is made up of coral and sponges, which are animals. The sponges that they consume contain toxic algae that is harmless to them, but it builds up in their flesh in a concentration that makes them poisonous to humans and other creatures if they are eaten. Angelfish are also carnivores, preferring small shrimp, clams and other creatures that live among the coral, but they will also eat algae and sea grass. Both of these creatures are beneficial to the coral reefs because they rid them of the buildup of excessive algae which prevents coral from thriving.

Unlike the Hawksbill, the Angelfish is abundant in warm waters of the southern hemisphere. They have specially adapted mouths that allow them to feed on the sponges that are also abundant in warm, tropical waters.