Hope blossoms for endangered turtles

After cautiously making sure that no peril is in sight, a sea turtle crawls onto a beach in the darkness. It digs a hole in the sand and begins to lay eggs inside. After laying more than 100, the turtle covers the nest with sand, scrapes it smooth and returns to the ocean.

This scenario happens several times a year at National Huizhou Sea Turtle Reserve. About 80 kilometers east of Shenzhen, the reserve's 1-kilometer-long beach contrasts with the aquamarine of the South China Sea. Beyond the sand, in the hills, researchers fight to keep the turtles from extinction.

Established in 1985, the reserve has witnessed a drop in the number of laying sea turtles - from more than 100 yearly in the 1980s to single digits now.