China is using its legal system to save sea turtles from extinction, as its coast guards step up patrols in the South China Sea, according to a new documentary produced by China Global Television Network (CGTN).
On January 15, 2021, the law enforcement officers of the Sansha Maritime Police Bureau ran into a fishing boat from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and boarded the boat for a routine inspection.
"During the inspection, we found a fridge without electricity in their living quarters. In the fridge were two live sea turtles. One was seriously injured and its right hind flipper was broken. We immediately contacted the protection station on Beidao, asking if they would take the two sea turtles and treat them," said Cao Haiyang, a law enforcement officer of the Yongxing Work Station of the China Coast Guard.
And they invited a professor from Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, to confirm whether they were green sea turtles.
"The following morning, we flew to Yongxing Island and rushed to Beidao. We gave the two sea turtles a physical exam and an identity check. Both were green sea turtles," said Lin Liu, professor of Hunan Normal University.
The turtles were under second-class state protection at the time. Less than a month later, the green sea turtles were listed as a first-class state protected species.
"They refused to eat. There were wounds on their bodies. We disinfected the injuries and applied medicine," said Huang Cheng, sea turtle protector on Beidao Island.
In May 2022, the turtles fully recovered and were released back into the sea.
Cao said today more and more fishermen have high awareness of protecting the marine wildlife.
"With our promotion of legal knowledge in recent years, fishermen will dial 95110 in time to seek help from us once they find protected wild animals in the sea," he said.
Released on Monday, the CGTN documentary with first-hand observations and rarely told stories will offer valuable insights into transformations over a decade.
Titled "Greening the Blue," the 30-minute documentary also shows how coral gardens are replanted, and sand beaches are turned into green islands in the South China Sea as a result of conservation efforts over the past more than 10 years.
China protects sea turtles with legal system
China protects sea turtles with legal system
