What was once a turtle graveyard is now one of the largest leatherback nesting colonies in the world, thanks to  a woman who grew sick of sea turtle carcasses littering the beach and launched a crusade to help end the slaughter of the gentle giants.

She began patrolling the beaches nightly stopping people with machetes who were waiting for the turtles to nest. Now the community has created a sustainable tourism industry using the very turtles she saved along the gorgeous stretch of white sand that is Trinidad's Matura Beach.

Watch the video below, or read the story at CNN Heroes.