Devoted turtle volunteers
washed ashore by tourists – as well as a few smuggled ones seized by the local police – have returned to sea after receiving lifesaving care at the university centre, according to Shi Haitao, professor of turtle research and conservation and vice-president of Hainan Normal University.
Shi said the team of volunteers has attracted about 50 students, teachers and social workers since its establishment in 2014.
Sea Turtle 911
Frederick Yeh, a ChineseAmerican postgraduate student, has been an active volunteer.
Yeh found his passion in sea turtle conservation when he returned to his childhood home in Hainan in 2007 and discovered that the turtles were being sold for their meat and shells in local markets.
He devoted himself to protecting the threatened animals and established the non-profit Sea Turtle 911 organisation in Hainan in 2008.
“I am gratified that so many volunteers have joined us,” Shi said.
Shi has called for greater public awareness and strict law enforcement against turtle poaching and trading, and has sought financial support for the centre’s operation. But the centre remains short of funds to buy medicine, medical devices and food for the turtles.
The Hainan Biodiversity Museum, a platform for sea life conservation initiated by Shi at the university, has received more than 700,000 visitors since 2000. His book on turtles has been printed three times to serve as a reference tool for the public and special workers such as customs officers and law enforcers.
Shi and his conservation team are expanding their efforts from Hainan Island to the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea through lectures to fishermen there on turtle protection.
“With more people getting to know the precious value of sea turtles in safeguarding a healthy biological chain and offering them good protection, it won’t be too long before we see the lovely creatures again visiting the beaches in groups in Hainan,” he said.
The Xisha Islands, with their clean, soft, quiet beaches, are thought to be a perfect location for sea turtles to lay eggs. A number of turtle protection stations have been set up on the islands since the establishment of Sansha city in 2012.
In 2014, turtles laid eggs in 52 nests in Sansha; by 2016 the number of nests had grown to 152. A turtle protection centre is being set up in Sansha, according to city officials. – China Daily/ANN