The patterns and events that occur in nature are enticing and nothing short of inspiring. From similar symmetries found across several life forms to quarterly season changes, our world is pretty miraculous. Can’t argue with that!
Another thing that I find exciting is migration. Not only is it intriguing that a species just seems to know when it’s time to migrate to mate, find food, or search for a better climate, but it’s simply a beautiful process. If you aren’t convinced yet of its beauty, you will be once you see the drone footage of a large number of green sea turtles migrating towards Raine Island, near Cairns in the Great Barrier Reef, to lay their eggs for the season.
In the footage, thousands of sea turtles are viewed swimming in the sea as part of their migration. Later in the footage, we also see dozens and dozens of turtles lining the shore. It’s an experience anyone would be lucky to view in person! It’s therapeutic, really.
Anyone watching it would agree that there sure are a lot of sea turtles present in the footage. Experts believe that approximately 64,000 sea turtles participated in this migration, which was surprising considering the current green sea turtle population was thought to be even smaller.
“We were underestimating that a lot,” Dr. Andrew Dunstan from the Department of Environment and Science (DES) said. “We’re finding 1.73 times as many turtles with the drone and as we do when we directly compare with observer counts.”
This is great news as green sea turtles are deemed a vulnerable species in Queensland, Australia. Over the years, they’ve been heavily targetted by hunters for their skin and eggs.
“The team can now go back and adjust the historic population estimates,” he continued.
Before the use of drones, counting the sea turtle population was difficult.
“Previous population survey methods involved painting a [non-toxic,] white stripe down the green turtles’ shell when they were nesting on the beach,” Dr. Dunstan explained. “From a small boat, we then counted painted and non-painted turtles. Trying to accurately count thousands of painted and unpainted turtles from a small boat in rough weather was difficult.”
This explains why the previous population estimate of the species was thought to be much smaller than it truly is.
“Eyes are attracted much more to a turtle with a bright white stripe than an unpainted turtle and that resulted in biased counts and far reduced accuracy. Using a drone is easier, safer, much more accurate, and the data can be immediately and permanently stored.”
Makes sense to me.
“We’re seeing the world’s largest aggregation of green turtles captured in these extraordinary drone images, which are helping to document the largest turtle numbers seen since we began the Raine Island Recovery Project,” Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director Anna Marsden said.
Yay for technology!
Although researchers are happy that the green sea turtle population is bigger than what they once thought, they’re still finding ways to protect the species.
“We’re taking action to improve and rebuild the island’s nesting beaches and building fences to prevent turtle deaths, all working to strengthen the island’s resilience and ensure the survival of our northern green turtles and many other species.”
You, too, can help the sea turtle population by donating here. If you can’t donate, no worries. You can still view the turtles’ migration drone footage below!
