Stunning Drone Footage Shows The Largest Green Turtle Gathering Ever Seen

June 11, 2020

Australian researchers released drone video this week showing at least 64,000 endangered green turtles at Raine Island -- an island situated on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef.

The stunning drone footage, shared by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, showed the world's largest green turtle gathering ever seen at Raine Island.

"We're seeing the world's largest aggregation of green turtles captured in these extraordinary drone images that are helping to document the largest turtle numbers seen since we began the Raine Island Recovery Project," Anna Marsden, the foundation's managing director, said in a press release.

The green turtle is endangered and under threat thanks to hunting, over-harvesting their eggs and loss of beach nesting sites, CNN reported.

Marsden said the foundation is taking action to improve and rebuild the island's nesting beaches and building fences to prevent turtle deaths, all while working to strengthen the island's resilience and ensure the survival of the northern green turtles and other species.