After Decades of Protections, Green Sea Turtles Have Been Saved From Extinction

In the shallow turquoise waters off the island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos—a British overseas territory south of the Bahamas—large adult green sea turtles rest on the sandy seafloor, grazing on seagrass. Juveniles surface for air as they swim through mangrove forests, while others tuck themselves into the shadows of coral reef crevices. It’s a scene of quiet abundance that can’t be taken for granted.

For more than 40 years, green sea turtles teetered on the brink of extinction around the world, their numbers decimated by commercial hunting of the animals for their meat, harvesting of their eggs and destruction of their nesting beaches as seaside developments took over coastlines. Many have been fatally ensnared in fishing gear or choked by drifting plastic debris.

Yet, despite