One of the Ogasawara Islands is seeing a spawning migration peak for green sea turtles born after World War II.
According to findings released Thursday by the Ogasawara Marine Center, there were 1,982 nests on Chichijima in 2013, the highest since the center started the survey in 1979.
Hunting of the green sea turtle, considered an endangered species, was discontinued during the U.S. Occupation of the Ogasawara Islands between 1946 and 1968 because most Japanese had vacated the islands. This is believed to have given the turtles the chance to increase their nesting and reproductive activities, with turtles born during those years now migrating back to the islands, the center said.