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."
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 has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2025
Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - Harvard University, small businesses, and more
By The Week US
-
Fake AI job seekers are flooding U.S. companies
In the Spotlight It's getting harder for hiring managers to screen out bogus AI-generated applicants
By Theara Coleman, The Week US
-
The sneaky rise of whooping cough
Under the Radar The measles outbreak isn't the only one to worry about
By Theara Coleman, The Week US
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocket
Speed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brain
Speed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an egg
Speed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energy
Speed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Blue Origin conducts 1st test flight of massive rocket
Speed Read The Jeff Bezos-founded space company conducted a mostly successful test flight of its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket
By Peter Weber, The Week US