These People Proved We Can Make A Difference After Turtles Came Back To Beach They Cleaned For The First Time In 20 Years

Every day we see many sad things being reported on the news and on the internet - but now it's time to hear something positive. For the first time in 20 years, turtles have come to nest to the Versova beach in Mumbai, India thanks to the joint effort between lawyer and environmentalist Afroz Shah and a team of dedicated volunteers. Due to pollution of beaches and fishing, the population of turtles has been dropping for many years. And it's only thanks to modern technology, like nets, that are designed to allow the turtles to escape, and conservation efforts that the number of sea turtles is starting to increase. One recent study even found 299 turtle nesting sites around the world, proving that they are slowly recovering from near extinction. The beach clean up effort organized by Afroz Shah has transformed a beach full of plastic into a place where the turtles can safely nest. The volunteers removed a whopping 5 million kilograms of plastic in 85 weeks and the UN are calling it “world's largest beach cleanup project.” Afroz even guarded the first turtle hatchlings himself and made sure they found their way into the sea: “I had tears in my eyes when I saw them walking towards the ocean,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. Sadly, there are still ways to go in order to stop the problem of turtles going extinct - just this week 300 turtles got stuck in fishing nets and drowned off the coast of Mexico. This just proves that we must do everything in our power to prevent the extinction of these majestic creatures. Check out the world's largest beach clean up in the gallery below! h/t

For over 100 million years, the sea turtles have roamed the oceans, but since humans started encroaching on their habitats, they had it seriously tough

Image credits: Bureau of Land Management

People are often catching them as 'easy catch'

Image credits: Keenan Adams

And many end up tangled up in fishing nets

Image credits: Jordi Chias

Pollution, climate change, and development along beaches have destroyed many of their habitats

Just recently 300 turtles drowned in stray fishing nets off the coast of Mexico

A recent found 299 turtle nesting sites around the world, showing that things are slowly starting to change for the positive

Image credits: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Image credits: Florida Fish and Wildlife

Thanks to citizen initiatives like the one in Mumbai, India, beaches are finally becoming suitable for nesting again

Image credits: Erik Solheim

The Versova beach clean up effort was lead by Lawyer and environmentalist Afroz Shah

Image credits: Afroz Shah

The volunteers removed an whopping 5 million kilograms of plastic in 85 weeks and UN are calling it the “world's largest beach cleanup project”

Image credits: Afroz Shah

From a dirty dumping ground, full of plastic and trash

Image credits: Afroz Shah Image credits: Afroz Shah

The beach has been completely transformed

Image credits: Afroz Shah

Into a majestic coast where turtles can safely nest

Image credits: Afroz shah Image credits: Afroz Shah

“I had tears in my eyes when I saw them walking towards the ocean” said Mr. Shah

Image credits: Afroz Shah

Six of the seven species of sea turtle are still considered to be critically endangered so we must do everything in our power to prevent the extinction of these majestic creatures

Image credits: Afroz Shah