Thomas Peschakさんのインスタグラム写真 - (Thomas PeschakInstagram)「During Christopher Columbus’ Caribbean voyage of 1494 green sea turtles were said to have been so numerous that his ships came close to running aground on them. Apparently, his crew could walk to shore on the backs of turtles without getting wet. Scientists estimate that the adult green turtle population of the prehistoric Caribbean amounted to more than 33 million. I found accurate present day estimates for the Caribbean hard to come by, but the entire global green turtle population is probably only around 2-3 million. Green turtles are still classified as Endangered, but are generally recovering well in the Atlantic. At locations like Little Farmer’s Cay in the Bahamas they can be encountered and observed with ease. Here a fledgling ecotourism project run by fishermen (some of who used to hunt turtles) uses shellfish scraps to attract and temporarily concentrate wild green turtles around the government dock. Lacking a time machine it is impossible for me to show you what a pristine Caribbean green turtle population actually looked like, but I hope that this image provides just a fraction of a glimpse of what bounty this sea once held. Shot on assignment for @NatGeo in partnership with @fonassociation Check out the full story in the October 2019 issue of @NatGeo magazine #seaturtles #turtle #underwater #diving #bahamas🌴」11月13日 21時07分