After whales and dolphins, it’s time for turtles to take over the internet! In the last few months, several videos of whale spotting and dolphins playing went viral. Now, a drone footage of 64000 turtles swimming close to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia has taken over the internet. The amazing video displays the incredible population of turtles in the reef here.
More about the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef, set in the Coral Sea in Queensland, Australia, is the largest coral reef system in the world with more than 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands. All these islands and reefs are spread across 2300 km over an area of approximately 344400 sq km. Another amazing feature of the reef is that it is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms, which is visible from outer space!
Given it’s awesome features, the reef was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981, and since then, it has become a prime tourist attraction of Australia.
About the drone video
The incredible drone video of thousands of turtles swimming near the reef was captured by a team of researchers from Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science (DES). The destination is home to Raine island, which is the world’s largest Green Turtle breeding colony and the video is shot just above the island.
In the video that went viral soon after it was uploaded shows the cute little turtles swimming in the clear blue waters around the Raine island.
The scientists used a drone to capture and find 64000 turtles swimming in the island waters. Dr. Andrew Dunstan, who works for the DES told the media, “We were underestimating that a lot. We’re finding 1.73 times as many turtles with the drone and as we do when we directly compare with the observer counts”.
Great Barrier Reef Foundation Managing Director Anna Marsden told a media firm that to preserve these gorgeous creatures they are “taking actions 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.”
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