An endangered species just got a slight population boom. A live webcam in the Florida Keys captured the hatching of approximately 100 baby loggerhead sea turtles on Monday.
It is the first high-definition video to capture a sea turtle hatch, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The national service and Florida’s state service of the same name have undergone a string of efforts to ensure the proliferation of the turtles, which have been listed as a threatened species since 1978.
“It’s so important here in the Keys to protect these nests and these turtles,” said Harry Appel, president of the Save-a-Turtle organization based in Florida. “They’ve been around for millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of years.”
The baby turtles emerged on Friday night and, guided by dim moonlight, made their way to the nearby Atlantic Ocean, where they will spend their days.
The World's Most Endangered Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises