There’s something incredibly fascinating about marine life. Perhaps it’s because the idea of living within the depths of the sea is so unimaginable to us. Perhaps it’s simply because sea creatures are some of the most mysterious and beautiful of all the world’s living beings.

When nature does its thing, it might not be pretty spectacular to the animals involved. But to us humans, seeing what far-off creatures get up to is beyond captivating – that’s why Blue Planet and other nature documentary series are so popular today.

Being a marine life researcher must be like working on a Blue Planet set 24-hours a day. No-one knows this quite more than a group of researchers in Australia, who were working for Raine Island Recovery when they were treated to a spectacular sight.

Drone footage of Raine Island, the site of the recovery project, shows more than 60,000 turtles returning to the island to make their nests. This is something that happens every year, normally between May and June.

The turtles all move in one big group, which is what makes this footage particularly spectacular. They know exactly where the island is located, even when they’re thousands of kilometres away. Some turtles make trips that take days on end, in what is considered one of the largest migrations on the planet.

The Raine Island Recovery project is, according to the official website, a “five year, $7.95 million collaboration between BHP, the Queensland Government, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Wuthathi and Kemer Kemer Meriam Nation (Ugar, Mer, Erub) Traditional Owners and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation”.

Raine Island is a small island located just over 600 kilometres north-west of Cairns, at the very north of the Great Barrier Reef. The whole island is a national park, and only scientists are currently allowed to visit it.

One of the things Raine Island is most well-known for is its green turtles. The island currently hosts the largest nesting population of these turtles, which are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act. It’s has become a critical location for keeping the species thriving and preventing extinction.

Unfortunately, aspects of the environment on the island are making it harder than ever for the green turtles to reproduce. Their eggs need to be laid near to the water, without actually being in the water. With erosion taking a toll, the landscape isn’t what it used to be.

According to researchers, the changes to the rocky terrain is causing up to 2,000 sea turtles a year to die from getting trapped or overturning on their mission to reach the sea.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Researchers have made it their mission to help these green sea turtles to gain easier access to the island, and have created a more turtle-friendly landscape for them to hang out and lay their eggs.

The project has involved re-profiling the beaches to keep the eggs out of danger, an adding fences to prevent the turtles from moving towards the more dangerous rocky areas of the cliff face.

The researchers can also walk around the site to make sure the turtles haven’t found themselves in a dangerous situation, and to rescue them if they have.

Thank goodness that this project exists today to help these turtles continue to thrive in their natural environment. You can check out the full video of the migrating turtles below.

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Source: Diply, Raine Island Recovery, Instagram