The co-director of Green Heroes has been diving with turtles at Cook Island off the Gold Coast and Tweed for more than 15 years. "I said, 'Let's really get to know these turtles' … Are they locals?

The reptiles were imported from the Galapagos islands by aristocrats and eaten as a delicacy - Rodrigo Buendia/AFP ...

One recipe outlines how to cook giant tortoises, which were imported from the Galapagos islands by aristocrats ... written in Old English Credit: BNPS Turtle soup was a favourite at civic dinners ...