守护三沙海龟家园

三沙市七连屿是目前国内最大的绿海龟自然产卵场，其中又以北岛的绿海龟巢穴数量最多，素有“龟岛”之称。据不完全统计，2022年西沙群岛海龟上岸产卵359窝，为近年来最高，其中北岛154窝，是2021年的1.5倍。

For Huang Cheng, it would have been just an ordinary patrol, until he came across a sea turtle crawling on the beach and its nest. He was so excited by the discovery that he took a video and sent it to his father.

对黄程来说，这只是一次普通的巡逻，直到他遇到一只海龟在海滩上爬行和筑巢。这一发现让他非常兴奋，于是他拍了一段视频发给了父亲。

"Look dad! The first mother sea turtle of this year has come ashore on Beidao Island and laid eggs," he said.

“看，爸爸！今年第一只母海龟已经在北岛上岸产卵了，”他说。

Huang, 42, is the director of the residents' committee of Beidao residential community of Sansha City, south China's Hainan Province. His father Huang Hongbo has been protecting sea turtles for more than five decades. At the age of 15, the junior Huang started to follow in his father's footsteps and has been helping with sea turtle protection on the island.

黄，42岁，是海南省三沙市北岛社区居民委员会主任。他的父亲黄宏波已经保护海龟50多年了。15岁时，小黄开始跟随父亲的脚步，一直在岛上帮助保护海龟。

"Perhaps my father saw her off through the waves when she was just a baby turtle, and now that she has returned as a mother. It's my turn to welcome her home," he said.

他说：“也许当她还是一只小乌龟的时候，我父亲就在海浪中为她送行，现在她又回来当妈妈了。轮到我欢迎她回家了。”

In fact, a sea turtle's life journey is fraught with danger.

事实上，海龟的一生充满了危险。

According to Huang, out of every 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings that swim into the ocean, only one will make it to adulthood. Despite traveling thousands of miles, it still returns to its birthplace or last nesting ground to breed, relying on Earth's magnetic field.

据黄介绍，每1000只刚孵化的海龟中，只有一只能活到成年。尽管它旅行了数千英里，但它仍然依靠地球磁场回到出生地或最后的筑巢地繁殖。

Latest statistics showed that over the past seven years, a total of 637 sea turtle nests with eggs have been found on Beidao Island, part of the Xisha Islands, accounting for 37 percent of the total in Xisha.

据最新统计，7年来，西沙群岛北岛共发现带卵海龟窝637个，占西沙总数的37%。

Xisha Islands are an important habitat of green sea turtles. In China, 90 percent of sea turtle population resides in the South China Sea, of which green sea turtles account for more than 80 percent of the total. Beidao is considered to be the largest green sea turtle nesting ground in China.

西沙群岛是绿海龟的重要栖息地。在中国，90%的海龟生活在南中国海，其中绿海龟占总数的80%以上。北岛被认为是中国最大的绿海龟筑巢地。

Since the 1980s, due to long-term overfishing, indiscriminate killing, illegal trade, overexploitation, marine pollution and other human factors, as well as the threat of climate change, the global sea turtle population and habitats have decreased. All sea turtles have been listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I. In February 2021, China's revised national list of key protected wild animals included five species of sea turtles in China as national Class-A key protected wild animals.

自20世纪80年代以来，由于长期过度捕捞、滥杀滥伤、非法贸易、过度开发、海洋污染等人为因素，以及气候变化的威胁，全球海龟种群和栖息地减少。所有海龟都已被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》（CITES）附录一。2021年2月，中国修订的国家重点保护野生动物名录将中国的5种海龟列为国家A级重点保护野生动植物。

For decades, many local people, like the Huang family, have endeavored to protect sea turtles.

几十年来，许多当地人，像黄家一样，一直致力于保护海龟。

In addition to the daily maintenance of island facilities and dealing with community work, they need to assist in patrolling islands and reefs, planting trees, cleaning sea garbage, feeding rescued turtles and various other duties.

除了日常维护岛屿设施和处理社区工作外，他们还需要协助巡逻岛礁、植树、清理海洋垃圾、喂养获救的海龟和其他各种职责。

Zhang Ting is a sea turtle researcher from Hainan Normal University, who considered the fishermen on the island to be a "local expert" of sea turtles.

张婷是海南师范大学的海龟研究员，她认为岛上的渔民是海龟的“当地专家”。

"I follow them every day to learn about the living habits of sea turtles and to see the sea turtles lay eggs," she said. The various experiences of those "experts" have enriched her knowledge about sea turtles.

她说：“我每天都跟着他们学习海龟的生活习惯，并观看海龟产卵”。这些“专家”的种种经历丰富了她对海龟的认识。

One of the "local experts" is the old Huang. Zhang still remembers how he would carefully prepare food each day to feed baby sea turtles in poor health.

其中一位“本地专家”是老黄。张还记得，他每天都会精心准备食物来喂养健康状况不佳的海龟宝宝。

"Every day, he carried seawater to clean the rescued turtles, changed the water in the pool, and gave them medicine," she recalled.

她回忆道：“每天，他都会带海水去清洗获救的海龟，换水池里的水，给它们吃药”。

Zhang brought special medicines to the island for the treatment of turtles. She also taught local fishermen how to use scientific approaches to rescue injured sea turtles, taught them the importance of protecting the sea and the turtles, and told them how to avoid injuring turtles during fishing operations.

张把治疗甲鱼的特效药带到岛上。她还教当地渔民如何使用科学方法营救受伤的海龟，教他们保护海洋和海龟的重要性，并告诉他们如何避免在捕鱼作业中伤害海龟。

In 2021, the Beidao sea turtle protection center was established. Scientific research teams from Xiamen University, Sun Yat-sen University, Hainan Normal University, and the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences have set up laboratories or research bases on the Beidao Island, where experts conducted research on the status of green sea turtle population, sea turtle ecology and conservation biology.

2021年，北岛海龟保护中心成立。厦门大学、中山大学、海南师范大学、中国水产科学研究院南海水产研究所等科研团队在北岛岛设立了实验室或研究基地，专家们在这里对绿海龟种群状况、海龟生态和保护生物学进行了研究。

"With the support and help of local government, we did research on 11 islands and reefs in the Xisha Islands," Zhang said. "We comprehensively surveyed the survival situation of sea turtles and obtained a lot of precious data and samples."

张说：“在当地政府的支持和帮助下，我们对西沙群岛的11个岛礁进行了研究”。“我们全面调查了海龟的生存状况，获得了大量珍贵的数据和样本。”

Over the past few years, Sansha City has gradually established a scientific system for sea turtle protection, and has formulated and issued several protection plans and regulations. Authorities have implemented 24-hour monitoring and protection mechanism for sea turtles that come ashore to lay eggs.

几年来，三沙市逐步建立起科学的海龟保护体系，制定出台了多项保护规划和条例。当局对上岸产卵的海龟实施了24小时监测和保护机制。

According to official figures, after years of protection and ecological restoration, a total of 1,734 nests with green sea turtles eggs were found in Xisha Islands from 2017 to 2023.

根据官方数据，经过多年的保护和生态修复，2017年至2023年，西沙群岛共发现1734个绿海龟窝。