Sea Turtle Inc. in South Padre Island is celebrating green sea turtles making a comeback.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently moved the species from its endangered list, marking a milestone decades in the making.

“On a global scale we've seen over the past 30 years or so the numbers of green sea turtles increasing, so that is the main portion that led to that change,” Sea Turtle Inc. Chief Conservation Officer Dr. Amy Bonka said.

Experts said conservation efforts are driving the rebound, but the biggest threat to all sea turtles in South Padre Island is tied to human interaction.

“That can be entanglement from fishing lines that’s been discarded, that can be plastics or trash that they may have eaten, and they shouldn’t have, it can be boat strikes,” Bonka said.

Many of the recovered turtles are taken to Sea Turtle Inc. to be rehabilitated and released back to the ocean for a second chance of life.

“In the past 10 years, we've seen an increase from about 40 to 50 patients… [now] we're seeing over 100 patients this year,” Bonka said.

Watch the video above for the full story.