The mother olive ridley, captured on Sept 10 in Pingtan, is released back to sea.

Li Jixue, a fisherman in Zhongmen village, Suao town in Pingtan county, caught two wild turtles recently. The two turtles are a mother and her child.

On Sept 10, Li Jixue found a little turtle in his fishing net. Five days later, he found a larger turtle at the same place.

"The two turtles are the same kind and were caught at the same place. I think they may be mother and child. After the child was caught, the mother came to look for her baby but was also trapped in the net," said Li.

A wild animal dealer wanted to buy the large turtle for 2,000 yuan ($317.10) but was refused by Li.

"I have some marine knowledge, and I will not sell wild animals however high the price. All the sea turtles I catch will be released into the sea," Li added.

The bigger turtle is grey-black and covered by a shell made of a dozen sclerites. According to its shell texture, color and other physical characteristics, experts identified both turtles as olive ridley sea turtles, a second-class animal under national protection.

The bigger turtle measures 1.4 meters with a chest circumference of 1.6 meters. It weighs more than 150 kg and is estimated to be over 300 years old. It is in good health.

The smaller one is 0.85 meters long and has a chest circumference of 0.9 meters. It weighs more than 40 kg.

"The olive ridley is the smallest species of all sea turtles and is the oldest living reptile; it has a very strong carapace," said Zheng Haiping, director of the emergency command center at the local ocean and fishery law enforcement team.

Both turtles were released into the sea with the help of several frontier officers and soldiers in the town. Both turtles' shells were marked with Li Jixue's name and the release date. The mark is a wish for auspiciousness and can also remind others to release them in case of recapture.

Accidentally, another turtle was captured in Pingtan's Dongxiang village on Sept 16. It weighed 60 kg and was also released into the sea.

Another turtle also captured in Pingtan on Sept 16 is released with the help of local police.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai