In the Seychelles, conservation efforts are paying off for the endangered green turtle
There is a welcome and wonderful sight appearing on beaches in the Seychelles.
The endangered green turtle is making a comeback here, after several decades of protection and close monitoring. Turtle hunting was banned in the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands off the coast of East Africa, in 1968, but it was a slow recovery. In the early 1980s, researchers would find just one or two turtle tracks on a beach, but by the mid-1990s, there would be 10 to 20.
It's only been up from there. This month, a new study was published in Endangered Species Research about the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles. Researchers found that in the late 1960s, the annual number of green turtle clutches was in the 2,000 to 3,000 range, and that increased to more than 15,000 in the late 2010s.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"There's potential for this population to double, triple, we're not even sure," lead author Adam Pritchard from the University of Exeter told Popular Science. "This could just be the start. It's amazing that, after slower growth in the beginning, there's been this real explosion in recent years."
The Aldabra Atoll has one of the world's largest green turtle populations, and in addition to the hunting ban, the fact that the area was designated a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1982 has helped the species with its recovery. It takes at least 20 to 50 years for green turtles to reach sexual maturity and start reproducing, making long-term monitoring another important step in ensuring the population continues to grow.
Over the last five decades, hundreds of people have been recording data on the green turtles, collecting information from more than 50 beaches across Aldabra. "One thing that people have learned is protection works," Jeanne Mortimer, founder and chair of Turtle Action Group Seychelles, told Popular Science. "But you may need to be patient and wait for 35 years."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Lift-off in Shetland Islands for UK's first vertical spaceport
Speed reads SaxaVord Spaceport aims to begin rocket launches next summer
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Scotland bids farewell to giant pandas
Speed Read Animals soon to begin journey back to China as loan agreement comes to an end
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published