World’s Largest Green Turtle Colony Nearly Twice as Big as Thought

Turtles nest on Raine Island, far North Queensland, Australia, in this picture taken in December 2019 and made available to Reuters on June 10, 2020. Courtesy of Christian Miller/Queensland Department of Environment and Science/Great Barrier Reef Foundation/Reuters

SYDNEY—The world’s largest population of nesting green turtles is nearly twice as big as previously thought, scientists said on June 10, after drones enabled better surveys of the animals.

Australian scientists determined that there were about 64,000 green turtles waiting to lay eggs on Raine Island—a vegetated coral cay on the outer edges of the Great Barrier Reef—significantly more than thought.