Drone footage captures world's largest gathering of green sea turtles at Great Barrier Reef
The world's largest bale of green sea turtles has been caught on camera.
Drone footage released by marine biologists shows a bale of 64,000 green sea turtles in the Great Barrier Reef.
They were swimming up to Far North Queensland in order to lay eggs.
The video was taken by the the Raine Island Recovery Project, who recently published research findings, saying they were underestimating the number of turtles by 50%.
The researchers are using drones to count the number of sea turtles at the world's largest nesting site.
The green sea turtles are an endangered species in Queensland because they are hunted for their flesh and eggs, and regularly get caught in trawler nets or plastic bags.
Great Barrier Reef Foundation Managing Director Anna Marsden praised the researchers on their outstanding work and results.
“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,” Ms Marsden said.
“This important research combines science and technology to more effectively count endangered green turtles.
“Raine Island is the world’s largest green turtle nesting site and that’s why we’re working with our Raine Island Recovery Project partners to protect and restore the island’s critical habitat.
“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.”