Sea turtles face life threatening challenges of natural predators and changing habitats.  But it is the industry of turtle fishing that drove the species close to extinction in the early 1900's. 

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This crisis was abated largely through the efforts of Florida biologist Archie Carr.   

 
Archie Carr was the first to formally link natural habits of Green Sea Turtles with their exploitation.  His research documented the astounding ability of turtles to find their way back to home waters.

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His award winning book, The Windward Road, was published in 1956 and caught the public's attention.

“We are killing it out idly, aimlessly, with no conviction of any sort, without most of us even aware that it is going” Carr said.

This book led to the formation of The Brotherhood of the Green Turtle, which later became the Caribbean Conservation Corporation and is now known as the Sea Turtle Conservancy. 

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The group’s large-scale tagging and tracking programs reaffirmed that turtles migrate and return to nest where they were born. In the 1960s, they partnered with the US Navy to restore the population by implementing hatch and release programs. 

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The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge was established by Congress in 1989 to protect sea turtles which continue to be threatened with extinction throughout the world.