Big effort saving small turtles in Sansha

Sea turtles get better protection in Sansha, China's southernmost city, since it established a protection station on Jinqing Island in the Xisha Islands in 2014. More than 2,500 young turtles have been rescued and released into the sea.

Jinqing, located in the northeastern part of the Xisha group, attracts thousands of sea turtles to lay eggs on the beach every year.

"But some of them lay their eggs in low-lying beaches that are easily submerged by seawater," said Guo Yong, head of the turtle protection station, told China Daily in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "After a little sea turtle gets out of the shell, it can hardly survive in the ocean. So the government decided to establish the protection station."