Swimming off the coast of Maui, I noticed a small head break the surface of the water. At first, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at until it surfaced again.

A green sea turtle.

I kept my distance — approaching would have been both illegal and unethical — but for nearly half an hour, I stood and watched as it periodically rose from the surf. Each time, it seemed to glance in my direction before appearing beneath the water once more. There was a quiet curiosity in the encounter, a shared awareness between two species occupying the same space for only a brief moment.

That experience stayed with me long after I left Hawaii, but it also carried a sense of sadness. At the time, green sea turtles were still considered endangered, their populations having endured decades of hunting, habitat loss, fishing bycatch, pollution, disease, and other human-caused threats and exploitation.

So when I learned that green sea turtles had become a recent conservation success story, I wanted to understand how they got there. What changed? How long did recovery take? And ultimately, what challenges remained?

To find out, I spoke with a marine ecologist, Alexa Putillo, who has spent the last decade studying green sea turtles. She shared insights into the species’ long road to recovery, the conservation efforts that helped reverse decades of decline, and why the work is far from finished.

Green sea turtles have traveled the world’s oceans for millions of years, but in the last century human activity has pushed many populations into steep decline, and with some populations still struggling and not seeing much success. Yet today, they represent one of conservation’s most encouraging comeback stories. Their recovery offers a glimpse into what is possible when science, policy, and public support align — but it also reveals how fragile that success remains.

“One of the biggest challenges in green sea turtle conservation is that the threats they face are widespread, interconnected, and occur across multiple habitats throughout their lives,” Alexa explains.

Green sea turtles are a migratory species; they depend on several habitats throughout their entire lives. They nest on beaches, travel through migratory corridors, and spend much of their time foraging in shallow coastal habitats such as seagrass meadows. Protecting them is not as simple as protecting one area of the ocean; it’s protecting them throughout their entire journey across the world.

For decades, green sea turtles have faced a deluge of threats. They were hunted for their meat and eggs, caught in fishing gear, struck by vessels, and exposed to pollution and habitat loss. Coastal development continues to pollute important nesting and foraging areas, while diseases such as Fibropapillomatosis — a tumor-causing disease — add another challenge for already struggling populations.

“When I first began working with green sea turtles, they were still globally listed as Endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, reflecting centuries of human exploitation that caused major population declines worldwide,” Alexa says. “Although conservation protections had already helped some populations begin to recover, many of the major threats affecting green turtles remained pressing concerns.”

Yet despite the odds stacked against them, conservationists, researchers, governments, non-profits, and local communities refused to give up on them.

The recovery of the green sea turtles did not happen overnight; it took decades of coordinated conservation efforts worldwide. Protections against harvest and international trade helped reduce direct exploitation. Nesting beaches were protected. Fisheries introduced regulations designed to reduce bycatch. Researchers monitored populations and migration patterns, while rehabilitation centers worked to rescue and care for injured and sick turtles.

And most importantly, communities became involved.

According to Alexa, local communities, volunteers, and conservation organizations have played a critical role in protecting nesting beaches, supporting rehabilitation efforts, reducing direct take, and educating the public about the importance of sea turtle conservation.

And those efforts paid off. But, as Alexa pointed out, recovery doesn’t mean the work is finished.

“One of the more important things to recognize is that a global conservation status change does not mean all green turtle populations are fully recovered or no longer vulnerable,” she explains.

Many threats still remain. Climate change continues to affect nesting beaches, pollution still finds its way into the ocean, and fibropapillomatosis continues to impact populations around the world. Some green turtle populations are thriving, while others continue to struggle.

Perhaps one of the most important lessons green sea turtles can teach us is that conservation takes time. Green turtles can take decades to reach maturity, meaning the actions taken today may not show measurable results for years.

Their recovery is proof that conservation works. But it is also a reminder that success requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to think beyond the next few years.

Looking back on that morning in Maui, I couldn’t have known how much history was swimming beneath the surface. The turtle I watched rise and disappear with the waves was part of a recovery decades in the making — a testament to scientists, conservationists, policymakers, volunteers, and communities that refused to let the species disappear.

But as Alexa emphasized, recovery is not the same as victory. The hard work of the last several decades has helped pull green sea turtles back from the brink of extinction, but their future still depends on the choices we continue to make today. By protecting nesting beaches, supporting conservation efforts, reducing plastic pollution and practicing responsible wildlife tourism, we can help ensure that future generations of hatchlings reach the ocean safely.

And if we keep doing our part, maybe one day we’ll look out across a thriving ocean and say to the green sea turtle: “You so totally rock, Squirt.” (Finding Nemo, Disney)

An Article by Ashley Glasco